A Woman and her Wolf
by Pelinal-Whitestrake
Summary: Andrew Cooper was a pretty normal person. That was, of course, before he was thrown into a different world inside the body of a robotic canine AI. OC insert, character is aware of the ME series. Contains bad language and mild gore.
1. Chapter 1

**A Woman and her Wolf**

So, just stop me if you heard this one before, but I was a normal guy, lived a normal life and had a normal dead-end job. Played video games in my spare time because I was not much of an athlete, to put things lightly, so sports and more out-door related activities were far out of my league. But, as that does not make a good story, the powers that be decided one day to 'spice up' my life in ways I never imagined.

* * *

I open the door to my apartment, located on the third floor of one of those ugly grey blocks they built all over the place in the 50's and 60's because they thought they were the future. Bet they regret that now, the amount of money they spend of trying to remove the damn things is likely higher than what they spent to build them. But honestly, right now I don't care. This is what I call my home; meaning I'm not at work so that's good enough for me.

I'm sure you know somebody who has told you this before, but whatever you do, don't work in retail. Having to deal with problem customers all day is not something I would wish on my worst enemy, it's honestly that bad! I always wonder if those people always act like that or if it's some sort of show they put on just for us. Makes me feel all special. I would like to say I'm a nice guy, but people like that bring out the worst in me.

Talking about me, I guess I should give myself a proper introduction. My names Andrew Cooper, I'm 21 and I have been living in and around London for about my entire life. You might think that would make me a bit patriotic about the UK, but I never really felt much for my home; too much of an urban sprawl for my taste. I'm a die-hard gamer too, with a particular focus on strategy and RPG's, with an occasional character action game so I can just phase out and do cool things that defy any and every law based around physics.

I'm feeling for playing something tried and tested today, so the Mass Effect games are looking pretty attractive right about now. Though now I'm stuck on which one to pick, as they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Come to think of it, why play one? It's a series made to be played from start to finish (as lacklustre as that finish is) so why not start from the top just one more time?

I grab the disc from the first Mass Effect, and put it in my ancient Xbox 360. I have no idea how this thing is still going strong, but it saves me money, so who cares right? My console makes some loud noises of protest, but the game loads up fine. I mash my way into the character select screen, where I am hit by what you could call a fey mood. I almost always make a Male Shepard with adept powers, because as sad as it sounds, I can pretend it's me saving the galaxy with magic powers. Not this time tough. I think I might just go a Female Shepard this time, only feels fair considering the effort Jennifer Hale put in on voicing her. I don't modify her at all, keeping her as basic as you can get. Looking at the classes, I think Soldier might be the best choice here. There is something to be said for the badass normal in a world full of pseudo-magic and crazy tech.

I picked the spacer and War Hero backgrounds, planning on going full paragon from the get-go. And with that, character creation was completed and the game started proper. I'm sure you know how the game goes, so I won't bother with the specifics, not like anything important is happening anyway.

*CRASH*

Well, that's a thunderstorm if I ever heard one. Sounds like it's getting closer too, but I should be fine, just hope the power doesn't cut. Oh shit, why did I think that, laws of casualty will now be coming for my-

*CRASH*

Oh fuck! I think that just hit the apartment block, all my electronic equipment just went dead as a doorknob, so it must have hit something important. Looks like I am just going to have to wait this out, I have heard too many stories of electronic equipment exploding in people's faces due to lightning over-charging the thing.

I have been waiting for about five minutes now, how long until-oh. All my equipment has flickered back to life, which is a tad odd in its self, but what takes the cake is my Xbox. It's turned back on to where I left it, as if the power did not cut at all. This needs closer inspection. I reach out slowly with my hand towards the console, mere inches away from touching it, tensed up and ready for almost anything. My hand lands on the Xbox and a whole bunch of nothing happens. Don't know what I expected really.

A quick glance at my clock reveals it to be about midnight. That is not a good thing, I got work tomorrow and I cannot afford to be late. Well, seems like I need to go to bed, hit the hay, or whatever you want to call it. I save my game, turn all my stuff off and collapse into bed, falling asleep in seconds.

I was not dreaming about anything tonight, my sleep was undisturbed by even my own brain, and this was likely the deepest I ever slept. Eventually my blissful slumber had to be interrupted, though not by the usual alarm clock. Instead I could hear someone talking to somebody else, which is not that strange in an apartment building, only question it's raising is whether or not I missed my own alarm.

As my sight comes into focus, my room seems a lot more white than usual. A hangover might explain that, but I didn't drink last night, so something is wrong here. My sight has been fully restored to me, and I'm shocked. Not with just what I see either, but with my sight itself. Everything looks as if it's a 'higher quality' than usual, like those jokes people make on upgrading to HD real life, except it's happening before me right now.

And then there is the actual room itself. First thing I notice is that it is obviously not my room. The fact that it's all bright white and silvery chrome is a dead giveaway. Then I notice the actual content of the room. It's got the kind of thing you would not be surprised to see, a few chairs and a desk, with what appears to be a keyboard on it, but it all has this weird sleek Sci-Fi aesthetic to it.

I feel the need to articulate my puzzlement at the situation in an articulate and precise manner.

"What the fuck." The voice that came from my mouth was not mine. It sounded slightly robotic and lacking in emotion, while being strangely familiar. Actually, thinking about my mouth, I can't really feel it. I can't really feel anything! Well, that's sort of a lie, I can kind of feel my body, but it's as if someone else is relaying what my body is feeling to my mind, as if this sensation is 'second hand', as if I am having a mild out of body experience.

I guess I need to examine my own body now. I fear the worst, considering I'm in a strange room I don't recognize and something is clearly wrong with me. Ok, let's count this down.

Three.

Two.

One.

Go!

Ok, sounding a bit like a broken record here, but, **what the fuck!**

My arm, leg, whatever, is no longer what it was. What used to be fleshy limb is now a metal paw or claw or something, looking like three blades, gunmetal grey in colour, coming out of this ball joint, which in turn is attached to a matt black limb. It's giving me some weird Déjà vu, even though I'm pretty sure I never had an appendage look anywhere near this.

I spy a mirror to the side of the room, one of those ones that are held at a slight angle so people can admire their outfit and that kind of thing. Due to being to its side, I can't see myself, meaning I'm going to have to move over to it. I'm sort of afraid to stand up, I don't know what's going on with myself and I don't want to get up from where I am, fearing something bad might happen, like I might snap in half. I decide to crawl over the mirror, allowing me to move to my goal without facing my fear. The motion of crawling is far too natural to me, and fills me with alien sensation from limbs I should not have. Before I know it I'm in front of the mirror and what I see is, different.

The sight is instantly recognisable, as it's a character from one of my favourite games. I am in the form of a robotic wolf AI, named Bladewolf, from the game Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The body has a very vicious feral design to it, with sharp edges all over the chassis, with blades and knives on the legs and spring-loaded super-heated knives. Under all the dark black metal, is the artificial muscle tissue, a sort of dull grey in colour, and looks as if it's almost a real wolf's bones and muscle under there. The face is very angular, a sort of triangle in shape being extended by what looks like two large wolf ears, which can slot over the face to form an augmented reality mask. The mouth has jagged metal teeth and a long thin metal tongue, the use of which I am unsure. Visible over the back is the long tail, ending in three dextrous cables, used to grab objects and manipulate keypads and similar things. The odd one out in the reflection is the large chainsaw running along what I guess is my back now. Bladewolf does have the chainsaw in question, but only on his first body, which I am not. I have the second much cooler Bladewolf design, but it should not contain the chainsaw.

Is that really what I should be worried about right now? The fact I do not resemble the canon design through and through? Just ignore the fact that Andrew is now gone and Bladewolf is now my body? I should be freaking out right now, but for whatever reason, I'm not. Perhaps it's because I did not have much to lose in my life, or even something as simple as I think Bladewolf is really cool. I don't know and I'm going to try to avoid thinking about it too hard, in case I do start flipping the fuck out.

Well then. I'm Bladewolf, and there is nothing I can seemingly do about that right now. I guess I might as well make the best of a bad situation and try to have a bit of fun. I think I should start simple and go from there. I bound along the edge of the room, seeing how quickly I can do a lap. I know exactly how long each lap is, down to quite a few decimals, likely due to the fact that I am now a robot wolf. I'm getting a bit of a thrill from this, and I suddenly have the strangest urge to howl. Not really thinking about it, I decide to let myself howl, and the noise the comes from me is very realistic, making me think that the howl might be recorded as opposed to a sound I made myself.

"Did you hear that?" Shit. I forgot I heard people talking when I woke up.

"Yeah I did, sounds like a dog or something" More than one voice. Great.

"I'm going to check it out, sounds like it came from my room" Who knows, perhaps this guy is nice and won't be mad at me being in his room.

"Whatever you say Boss, just be careful, perhaps it's C-Sec here to arrest us" C-Sec? You have got to be kidding me here.

"Last time I checked, C-Sec doesn't employ dogs. Just stay here and guard the shipment, be back in a second" Well this just got weirder. Somehow. Ok Brain, or is it computer now? Doesn't matter. Let's review this. I'm Bladewolf. Outside this room are at least two people. They are criminals, likely smugglers, by the sound of that 'shipment'. They are afraid of C-Sec. C-Sec stands for Citadel Security, the police force from Mass Effect. The room I am in fits the Mass Effect style, in fact, it's a dead ringer for the copy pasted rooms used in a few of the side missions. Probability of this being within the Mass Effect universe? Higher than I would like to admit.

I need to find somewhere to hide, and fast. If what I have concluded is true, then this guy will not be friendly towards me if he finds me. The room has a pretty Spartan design though, with the desk being the only object that can break a line of sight. Desk it is. It's like being six all over again, but with more criminals and robot wolves.

The door makes a little ding, similar to a bell, then a louder but still rather quiet wooshing sound, so you know it's got to be futuristic. I hear a few footsteps, the noise they make is quite loud and hard, so this guy is got to be wearing boots, or something. If I could figure out how to activate AR mode I could see him through the desk. As if by magic, AR mode activates. It might be controlled by my thoughts then, which is helpful. AR mode feels weird to me, as the world goes blue and covered by a sort of Heads Up Display, while all nearby people are red silhouettes. I can see the 'Boss' slowly look around the room, holding some sort of weapon in his hand.

"Come out little doggy, I just want to play" His voice sounds something like a chain smoker who ate a bag of gravel, that kind of so absurdly gritty voice that you just can't take seriously. Not to mention what he actually said is possibly the most cliché' phrase I think I have ever heard a person say. He is moving closer to the table now, so I'm making sure to keep low and keep my tail (Damn it's weird to say that) out of sight. "If you don't want to come to me doggy…" That does not sound good "Then I will have to come to you!" He then kicks his own table to side, revealing me, lying on the floor. I deactivate VR mode so I can see him better. The guy is in a hardsuit, which adds more evidence for the Mass Effect theory, with a sort of desert camo pattern all over it. It honestly looks quite stupid, like those wannabe military types who played a Call of Duty game and suddenly think they're a Navy Seal or SAS. The guy is also wielding a shotgun, again with the Mass Effect design, and aiming it in my general direction. I need to defuse this and fast.

"Please don't shoot me." My voice does not sound convincing at all, sounds like I'm doing taxes or something.

"Holy shit! AI!" Oh right. This has got to be Mass Effect, too much evidence otherwise. It looks like this is going south quickly. Camosuit confirms my hypothesis of shit is about to get real by firing his shotgun. Don't know if it was surprise, fear or incompetence that caused him to miss wildly, but I will take what I can get. I leap onto him, and the resulting force of my metal frame crashing into him at high speeds throws him to the ground with a loud thud. I fall back on instinct, though I guess you could call it programming, and use my tail to grab the chainsaw off my back, and begin to cut him into teeny tiny pieces. Before he becomes mincemeat however, he gets out a loud bloodcurdling scream. This is quickly put an end to when I start cutting him with the chainsaw, splattering blood and gore across the room. I imagine this would make me feel sick, but I don't have anything to be sick with, so I end up feeling oddly calm about having chainsawed some guy into dog food. Hehe. Dog food.

"What the fuck?" Oh yeah, the other people.

"B-Boss?" That's a different voice.

"Get up there now!" As is that one.

"What's going on?" I'm going to have to fight these people, aren't I?

Activating VR shows that there are six people in the room outside of here, one of them gingerly moving a hand towards the electronic holographic lock that you see in all the Mass Effect games. Now I get to show these guys a few new tricks. The chainsaw I have is known as a High Frequency Chainsaw, or HF Chainsaw for short, meaning all the little teeth on the chainsaw vibrate rapidly, allowing it to cut through almost anything with ease. So I stab the HF chainsaw through the door and into the guy on the other side, spearing him onto the blade, chopping up his insides into a sort of slurry, showing me he is all kinds of dead.

"FUCK!" I would call them out for not being very imaginative with their surprise, but I did the same thing, so whatever. I then retract my chainsaw and cut apart the door, with almost no resistance whatsoever. A quick push makes the whole door fall apart and allows me entrance into the larger room. Turning VR off again, allows me to see that the larger room is an exact doppelganger of those warehouses in the first game, which showed up in almost every other side quest. I'm currently on a balcony of sorts, with some stairs down of to the side. Looking around reveals everybody here is in fact human. I feel like I have to specify this now, considering how similar to Mass Effect this is getting.

One of these smugglers is standing right in front of me, just one floor down. I, quite literally, get the drop on him, cutting him in half as I land, spraying more liquid life all over the floor. Two down, four to go. Looking for more people to hunt, I spot two criminals who just saw what I did. They are both pointing the iconic assault rifle design from the first Mass Effect right at me, which is not good news. They are shaking like crazy though, which might help.

"P-P-Put the weapon away!" Bladewolf is not made for direct combat, and I'm not entirely sure how much damage I can take until I kick the bucket, so I comply with their request.

"It actually did it? Don't think that will save you, you hunk of junk!" Hunk of Junk? Seriously? "You killed our friends! I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart!" Well I cannot have that. Being intact is pretty much my main goal right now. My tail has moved a little lower than my chainsaw mount, as they have all eyes on that, and has moved towards the super-heated knives on my rear legs, and pulled out two, slowly and carefully. The left criminal saw though, and shouts what I assume was meant to be a war cry, but was so shaky and high pitched it sounded more like a squeal. Acting on what has been programmed into me, I throw the two heat knives at the current threat.

Instinct and luck allowed the two knives to dig their way into the throats of the two scared smugglers, dropping them like sacks of potatoes. I quickly go retrieve the knives, as I imagine I will need every one I can get. But it's not over yet. There are two more I need to deal with; I just need to find them.

As if on cue, two lowlifes poke their heads out of cover to see what happened. I don't think they were ready for hyper violence like this. The differences between seeing a guy get shot and seeing a guy get torn in half is monumental. They clearly thought so, as they ran, screaming, out of what I assume was the exit.

A quick succession of gunshots follows. Seems like there is somebody else here that is opposed to what's going on here. I hope I don't have to kill them too, would be nice to calm down for a bit. Whoever it is, they seem to be coming in, so I make my best effort to look as non-threatening as possible, by sitting in the middle of the room and staying still. I can hear multiple sets of footsteps, moving slowly and carefully, I don't think I would have picked up on it if not for the whole robot thing.

In a swift manoeuvre, two figures pop out from cover, aiming a sniper rifle and a shotgun into the room, allowing them a look into the room proper as well as allowing me a look at them. I can only see their upper bodies, as the crates they are using as cover obscure the rest of themselves. But I can see enough. The one on the left is wearing an environmental suit with a domed helmet, gripping her (easy to tell, due to body structure) shotgun with two fingers and a thumb. That's a quarian for sure. Even has a grey-purple shawl over the mask.

The figure on the right is a turian, easy to tell due to their height and avian features as well as the plating over their skin. This particular turian is holding a sniper rifle quite tightly in his hands. His armour is blue, which I'm pretty sure is C-Sec colours. He even has a visor going over one of his eyes.

Oh. Oooh. Alright, shot in the dark here, but I'm pretty sure that's Garrus and Tali. I hope I'm right, because otherwise that will make the first things I thought while seeing aliens slightly racist.

"Shepard, you need to see this" Says Garrus. Yeah, score one me.

* * *

Author's Notes

Hello people. I don't know why you have read this far, but if for whatever reason you have, please leave a review, positive or negative, so I know what I'm doing wrong/right. This is the first proper story I think I have ever written, so it's likely full of errors and weird syntax. I wrote this really stupid story because I thought to myself once how Bladewolf would do in the Mass Effect universe and the thought has stuck in my head for about a year, till I got tired of it and decided to write it down.

Few things worth mentioning, this is not a Self Insert. While it follows the general style of a SI, Andrew is not me, in more than just name. He acts different, does different things, has a different job, all that stuff. About crossovers, I don't think this has enough to verify as a Metal Gear crossover, as while the body of Bladewolf is in the story, the Character is not. If you do think this enough to count as a crossover, please tell me and I will consider changing it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Woman and her Wolf**

Ok then. We got Garrus and Tali right in front of me, and apparently Shepard is not too far off. Got to keep my cool here, make sure they don't suspect me being an AI. Just be chill, act natural, and everything should come out golden. Hopefully.

"What is it Garrus?" Why hello Jennifer Hale! So it looks like we have a femshep here. Not my normal choice, but the fact I'm meeting a Shepard at all is already crazy. I wonder what she looks like? Probably the basic design, but who knows, they might have bright pink hair or something.

"Seems like somebody got those smugglers before we did" Garrus's flanged voice is really weird. Kind of cool though, it's the sort of voice that doesn't get tiring listening to, like Shaun Connery or Christopher Walken.

And strolling in, without a care in the world, comes Shepard. It's quite obvious that it is Shepard too, with the N7 hardsuit, with the iconic red stripe on black plating. She looks like the vanilla design, except the one from the third game instead of the first. This meaning she has the parted red hair that's long at the back but short at the front. Her facial expression is one of shock and what I think is disgust.

"Has that guy been cut in half?" Yeah, that's disgust all right. She sounds like she is trying not to gag. Which is fair enough, I did make a bit of a mess, which I'm still not freaking out about it actually. Perhaps it's like robot adrenalin or perhaps I was just a psychopath and I didn't know it. Who knows? Better yet why bother caring? I'm not panicking yet so that has to be a good thing right?

"Seems that way." Garrus doesn't seem as shocked, but I guess he might be more used to this kind of thing, I imagine C-Sec get to deal with all types of axe-crazy maniacs. "Looks like that mech had something to do with this, it's covered in blood" Oh, they are looking at me now! I just have to play the role of cute robo-dog and I should be fine. I realize that I have already been wagging my tail and that my 'tongue' is lolling out my mouth. That should help my case, shame about the blood though.

"Think it's hostile?" No way Shepard, I am so not hostile. I'm just a cute robot dog. Beep Boop. They have to do something eventually and I'm not going to be the one to start, as that might make me already suspicious. And if they find out I'm an AI then its game over for me.

"I could check, but I need to get closer to it" Well, Tali just spoke up for the first time. I can tell why though, with how she is pointedly avoiding looking at the guy I cut in half. It's probably a bit too much for her, considering how new she is to this compared to the other two.

"We can cover you" Shepard replied "if something goes wrong, we can fight one mech." I feel a bit insulted there; I just took out five people about six minutes after waking up. Though I guess my opponents were not exactly up to scratch, I took most of them out due to surprise anyway.

Tali takes a loud audible breath before moving slowly towards me. I wonder what she is planning to do exactly. Her omnitool lights up and I gotta say, it looks really cool. I wish I had one. At this point, she is close enough to reach out and touch me. She almost does as well, but keeps her omnitool hand inches away from my face, filling my view. I realize this means that she is scanning me which is bad news indeed.

I get filled with a strange, alien sensation. It's like something is pushing at my brain for information, and it won't leave until it gets what it wants. I wonder if it's possible to lie to it, because that might work fine. I attempt to send it fake information, saying that I am a combat mech and robotic pet named Bladewolf, using advanced VI programming. Half-truths are the best kind of lies, after all.

It seems like I managed to do something, because Tali pulls her omnitool away and looks at the screen for a little bit, before turning to the rest of the squad and hopefully relaying what she just got. "Shepard, something is strange with this VI" Oh Shit. Well she said VI, so that's got to be a good thing right?

"What's wrong with it?" Ok that's just mean Shepard; there is nothing wrong with me.

"I just tried to hack into its data banks to get information on it, but it completely resisted my hacking attempt, and it's coding is different to anything I have ever seen." Tali looks a bit sheepish, I think it might have something to do with failing a hacking attempt, which might make her feel upset.

"Did you manage to get anything at all?" Shepard says this quite softly, so it sounds less accusatory and more of a question between friends. Possible evidence towards paragon Shepard, which I will need to live.

"Well, I got something, but it's…" Tali pauses for a second, trying to find the right word "a bit like a sales pitch, it doesn't really tell me much" Seems like she did get the info I sent her. That's good; I just wish I knew how to do that properly.

"What did it tell you about it then? Any information is better than nothing right?" Spoken like a true optimist Shepard.

"According to what it says, it's a one-of-a-kind mech designed both for combat and as an interactive pet." Tali explains this, sounding annoyed that that was all she was able to get.

"Why would somebody make that?" Garrus pipes in. Well, rich people with more money than sense, they exist in every universe right? I hope the pet part wasn't too much, I only added it in so I could act a bit more expressive than not at all.

"I don't know" Tali admits. "The model is apparently named 'Bladewolf' too. That's all I was able to get from it before it locked me out." So it appears I'm unhackable. Or just really resistant to hacks, either one is good.

"Why would these criminals own this?" Shepard ponders "And why would it kill them?"

"Well, these criminals were smugglers, perhaps they stole it, but it got loose?" Thank you Garrus, that's a decent enough excuse. I would buy it.

"Perhaps" looks like Shepard buys it too "What should we do now though? The smugglers are already dead and now we have the VI to deal with." Deal with in what way exactly? Hopefully not deal with in the shooty smashy way.

"I would like to take it" Oh, it appears I have Tali's attention at least, which is good, means I'm almost in the clear.

"Are you sure that's safe Tali? We barely know anything about it, and you want to take it with us?" Garrus does not trust me, it seems. He just lost a few points in my eyes, but he still has like a million points, so it's all great.

"I think it looks cute, aside from the blood." You know what Shepard? I can take that, that's better than 'agh it's an AI shoot it' and similar reactions. "And besides, I can keep an eye on it encase It starts acting weird" Deal accepted. I slowly move towards Shepard, and let out a small bark. Like the howl, I can't tell if I can actually make that noise or if it's pre-recorded. "I think he likes me" Shepard gives off a little snicker after saying that.

Garrus quickly gives me a hard stare, before walking back towards the exit they came in from. Shepard pats me on the head, which feels a bit condescending, and motions for me to follow her out. So, I decide to follow her, she is probably the only person I'm safe around anyway or at least for now. Before they open the door, Garrus and Shepard start to put helmets on, which means air is likely toxic or a vacuum on the other side. I don't have a helmet though, what if I choke and die? Or if I- I keep forgetting the whole I'm a robot thing. It's going to need some getting used to.

A little hiss comes from their suits when the helmets are attached, which I imagine is some sort of vacuumed seal, to keep their oxygen from seeping out, and whatever is in the air outside from getting in. I'm quite excited actually; I'm going to see a completely alien planet for the first time! That a big deal, or at least for me anyway, I imagine for the people in this universe that's the equivalent to driving down to a different city or town for shopping.

Shepard presses down on the holographic lock, making the ring go green and the door make a little chime and whoosh noise, revealing my first sight of an alien planet. It is… disappointing. I mean, it looks nice, with its large rolling valleys of green grass and what seem to be small flowers, but it doesn't look _alien_. I wanted to see weird animals and purple grass, and all kinds of crazy stuff. Not a planet that looks like New Zealand.

Might as focus on what is cool. In the middle of this peaceful vista is a large APC, which I recognize as the Mako. Everyone hates on the Mako for its awkward controls and weird physics, but I love the dumb truck that could. It has pluck. I can see the little doors on the side, which Shepard opens for everyone. Shepard clambers in first, followed by Garrus and Tali, who leaves the door open for me. The entrance is about at my head height however, so I have to pull off a little jump to actually get in. I do a perfect little hop into the mako, with a perfect dismount and everything. An Olympic gymnast would rate it an eight out of ten, most definitely.

The inside of the mako isn't going to win any awards; it's got a single seat at the front for the driver, which Shepard is currently sitting in. Right behind that is a sort of harness thing so somebody can operate the turret, which nobody is using for some reason. Then there are three seats on either side of the mako, making a total of six. Tali and Garrus are sitting opposite to each other, both looking at me; I think they are waiting for me to sit down.

I sit down on one the chairs next to Tali, and attempt to strap myself into the seat. Through a mixture of stubborn determination and dexterity, I manage my goal of strapping myself to the seat. I'm glad I cannot feel this properly, because the position I'm in looks awkward as all hell.

"Alright Joker, we are ready for pickup" Oh hey, Joker is on call. Nice.

"Loud and clear Commander, coming to pick you up now" So I guess we just wait for a bit then. About five minutes later the Normandy comes into land and picks us up. Shepard drives the mako into the cargo bay and it locks into place with a few clanking noises. Shepard gets out the driver's seat and leaves the mako, with Garrus and Tali following shortly after. I sorta wriggle out my seat, land face first on the floor, regain my composure, and leave after them. It appears they are on the other side of the mako. Just before I move to the other side I hear them talking, and I decide to listen in.

"Did everything turn out ok commander?" That sounds like Kaidan Alenko.

"Well…" Shepard pauses to think about what to say "they were all dead when we got there, actually" Wow; she doesn't pussyfoot around the point does she?

Anyway, that's kind of my cue to show up, so I might as well play nice. I walk around the mako and take a spot a few paces behind Shepard. Kaidan saw me, or at least got a glimpse of me, and looks past Shepard to get a better look, and looks at me, puzzled. "Shepard, what is that?"

"It's a VI we found in the building, that killed all the smugglers before we got there. It's pretty cool right? It's called Bladewolf, which sounds a bit silly, but I think he could be useful to have around!" Shepard seems to like me quite a bit.

"Shepard. If you wanted a dog I don't think anyone would stop you" Kaiden says this with a grin, clearly as a joke between friends.

"A dog is nowhere near as useful as a mech" Damn right Shepard. Damn right.

"A varren then" Kaiden is having quite a bit of fun with this, isn't he?

"Ugh, varren smell horrible. Plus I think I have fought too many to see them as pets"

"I hear you" Kaiden nods in agreement.

Shepard points her thumb over her back "Anyway, I should go" Oh my god. She said it. This is looking like it's going to be entertaining.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

I plan to rush through Mass Effect 1's story, due to reasons that will (hopefully) soon become apparent. So expect me to gloss over quite a bit of this part of the story. Please review this story with positive or negative feedback, so I can get better at writing.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Woman and her Wolf**

So Shepard has just spent one hour and thirty-five minutes going around the ship showing me off to random crew-members, some of them recognizable, like Joker and Engineer Adams. Joker was quite amused that there was now a 'robot dog that fights crime' aboard the ship, while I think Adams wanted to pull me apart to see what made me tick. From all the other comments I got from the assorted crew, apparently Shepard always wanted a dog, but could never have one due to living on a ship and military service. That explains how easy it was for me to get aboard the ship then.

I have just been following Shepard wherever she goes really, not much else for me to do that is safe. As embarrassing as it is, I just have to play the role of 'pet dog' for as long as I can. Because who suspects the pet of being more than what they seem? Hell, even when shown evidence, who wants to _admit_ something, might be up with their pet? So I just have to grin and bear it. Except I can't grin. Close enough.

Anyway, Shepard is taking me down to the cargo deck, because she wants to 'see what I can do' apparently. I have no idea what she plans on doing for this, because it's nothing like showing off marksmanship. That leaves a few holes in a wall or a sheet of metal. What I do leaves a pile of scrap, causing quite a bit of damage to the surroundings.

Looks like the doors on this lift are opening anyway. And yes, it is pretty slow, not as much as in the games, but it's definitely not fast. Well, the cargo room looks the same as always, except for a big pile of boxes in the middle. They are all white and metallic; they look like they might be heavy too, due to their bulk. "Alright, here we are" Shepard walks over the big pile of boxes, struggling a little to pick one off the top. After getting a good grip on it, she moves it a few feet to the side and drops it to the ground with a loud thud.

"Alright Bladewolf, I want you to cut this box apart" So that's your game eh? Sounds simple enough. I use my tail to take the chainsaw of my back and give it a few revs to put fear into this box. The box stays unmoved; truly he is a perfect example of a fearless warrior. To swing at this box, I have to turn my back to it slightly every time I slice, due to the limited range of my tail. The end result is I'm shaking from side to side, like some kind of weird dance, while the metal box is reduced to a pile of small metal shards, a massive safety hazard to anyone fleshy. That will teach that box to mess with me, cheeky bastard.

Shepard kneels down and starts inspecting a few shards of metal. "How sharp is that chainsaw?" From where I can see, the shards are all in perfectly straight pieces, a kind of finish round the edges that you would never expect to see from something getting cut up. Shepard gets up with a smile on her face, and moves back over to the crates. She picks one up and just throws it at me. No warning, no anything. If anything, it's actually easier to cut than the one before, as it's coming towards me from above, meaning I don't have to do a little wriggle dance to actually get the thing. I decide to go with a clean cut through the middle, causing the two severed sides to land on either side of me.

Shepard let out a little whistle at that. I'm glad she is enjoying herself, but cutting up boxes isn't exactly how I want to spend my free time. She then moves back to the pile yet again, and I'm realizing that I will be here for a while.

* * *

Shepard has spent about an hour stacking up boxes and making me cut them into pieces, sometimes with a specific goal, likely to gauge my precision. I'm surprised there are any crates left at all at this point; I wonder where she got them all from. Just as she starts to make what looks like a little wall out of the boxes, Joker pipes up from the comms.

"Shepard, I got the council on hold here, please get up to the comm room before they start to get mad at me" I wonder what that will be about. Come to think about it, I have no idea how far into the story we are. I know we are at least past Liara's recruitment mission, because Shepard mentioned not being able to find her while showing me off.

"Coming up now Joker, I won't keep them waiting" Shepard looks a bit disappointed that she couldn't watch more innocent boxes be slaughtered, but she quickly paces over to the lift, with me following just behind her.

The ride up the elevator is filled with a tense silence. I can understand why, the council don't just call for no reason, whatever it is, it has to be important. Shepard keeps clenching and unclenching her fists, meaning she probably came to the same conclusion as I did. Not that she knows that though.

The doors open and Shepard makes a bee line for the comms room. Just before she enters, she turns and tells me to wait outside. I'm a bit annoyed that I'm denied entrance, but its SPECTRE stuff, and it's not like anyone else on the crew would be allowed in anyway. It seems like she will be in there for a while, leaving me to think about everything that's happened so far.

I am really out of my comfort zone here. I'm in a different body, a different universe. Everything I know is gone, along with my life and friends. I should be filled with sorrow and fear. I should be panicking and screaming after brutally killing five people with a chainsaw. Yet here I am. I don't feel anything like that, anything that extreme. Not to say I don't have emotions anymore, just everything is milder than before. I'm _slightly_ afraid of being caught, _slightly_ upset at the loss of my life, _slightly_ disgusted at the people I killed. All of this together makes me think, will it stop at this, a sort of jaded effect on negative emotions, or will it keep going, until I'm an emotionless husk? This train of thought fills me with as much fear I think I can still experience. The sense of fear is strangely comforting to me, allowing me to confide that I'm still myself for now, and that's all that matters.

"Can all ground crew come to the comm room? Thanks." That's Shepard's voice. The call to the council must have been important then. The door into the room suddenly opens and Shepard lets me in. She sits down on one of the chairs, so I decide to sit down on the floor next to her, knowing all the chairs will be filled, not to mention I can't sit down on a chair without looking silly.

I watch and wait, seeing all the seats get filled. In only a few minutes everyone has arrived. Everybody has eyes on Shepard, except for Liara and Ashley, who are both looking at me. I think it's because they haven't seen me before, unlike the rest of the crew. Not like it really matters however, if what's about to go down is what I think it is. "Alright, I have just been told by the council that an infiltration team sent to find information about Saren sent a garbled message while on the planet Virmire. They want us to check out what happened." Virmire? Well fuck.

"That sounds like a trap Commander" Ashely isn't too far off with that actually.

"Then we kill everyone stupid enough to try to trap us" Wrex has the right idea there. A bit reckless, but this is a crew of badasses, you get to pull off shit like that all the time.

"Yeah, it's risky, but we can't turn down a chance like this to track down Saren. We just don't have enough information to go on otherwise." It really is a dammed if you do, dammed if you don't situation. I wonder who will end up dying. Perhaps nobody, if we play our cards right, or perhaps more than in game. I Guess I just have to wing it and hope for the best, which does not fill me with confidence. "I want you all rested up and ready to fight, whatever's down there was enough to cause serious damage to a STG unit, so expect heavy resistance. See you all in about three hours." And with that, everyone leaves the room to do whatever they do before a mission.

Shepard lets out a small tired sigh and goes to leave the room too. I have nothing better to do, so I follow Shepard like a lost puppy, which I guess isn't too far off. Shepard goes into her room, and motions for me to come in. Now, she doesn't know this, but it's kind of creepy here. Shepard's got undressed to get a little bit of sleep in, and sees me as a pet, so who cares right? But I care, because I was a human male, making me feel like a creep. I do now know I have no libido now, which is not that surprising, considering I'm a robot. There is nothing to do but wait now, so I might as well see if I can sleep. It turns out that while I cannot sleep in the traditional sense, I can put myself in standby, which is a weird sensation. I'm aware of my surroundings, if not as much as usual, and time seems to fly by. In what seems to be moments, Shepard is awake again and looks ready to fight an army. This is good, considering that's exactly what she needs to do.

Shepard leaves the room, going up to the cockpit, to go talk to Joker. Joker tells Shepard "Commander, I'm reading a signal. Must be our salarian infiltration team."

"Check out those defence towers" Never understood why Kaidan was sometimes in the cockpit. Is he a co-pilot or a navigator? Who knows?

"Drop the Mako. We'll go in hot and take them out" Seems like that's our cue, so everybody on the ground team makes their way to the cargo bay. Shepard takes Tali, Liara and Ashley on the mako, telling everyone else to stay put. As I go to follow, she throws a glance my way and says "That means you too." I guess that decision makes sense, this part of Virmire is just a mako sequence really, and not something I would be very useful for.

So Garrus, Wrex, Kaidan and I end up watching the mako drop out the cargo hold when the door opens. We watch it go further and further out of sight before the door starts to close up again. Wrex goes back to his little section of the cargo hold, looking a bit pissed that he wasn't taken for the mssion. Garrus goes over to where the mako would normally stay, and perching himself atop a box, messing with his sniper rifle, probably calibrating the sights, if the memes have any truth to them. Kaidan starts to inspect me, which I find a bit annoying. He starts off by just sort of poking random places on my body, which would be really creepy if I was still human. Actually, cut that, it's still creepy now. He gives some of my plating a bit of a tug, as if he expects it to come off in his hand. It stays strong, and he gives a bit of a nod, as if pleased my armour can survive light pulling. He then does something immensely stupid, and slowly prods a tooth on my chainsaw. He instantly pulls his finger back, and I can see a little bit of blood on his finger. Nothing major, paper cut levels really, but I think it's more to do with the surprise that I penetrated his hardsuit with no resistance at all. He shakes his hand a little bit.

"Huh" yeah, Huh indeed Kaidan "I wonder if what Tali said was true?" Tali said what exactly? He gets his omnitool out and moves it towards me. No, fuck you, stay out of my head. I can feel something push against my 'brain' and instead of giving him the whole 'sales pitch' thing, I just decide to push back. The sensation stops, and Kaidan reels his head back slightly in surprise. "Wow" Kaidan exclaims "I was instantly thrown out; I'm surprised Tali was able to get anything." So it does seem I'm pretty much hack-proof, which is going to be useful, considering we are fighting geth. Kaidan seems to lose interest in me, which I thank my lucky stars for. He just seems to be fiddling with his omnitool and his pistol, with no particular goal but busy himself.

Suddenly, Joker's voice fills the cargo bay. "Get ready, we are landing in the STG camp now, thank you for taking Joker Airways, have a nice day" God, he can be a real ass sometimes. Funny though.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

So, a lot more people like this (or at least want to see where the hell I'm going with it) than what I expected. So, about update speed, don't expect any particular patten to it whatsoever. I would like to give some sort of pattern so you know when to expect an update, but I'm too busy to give myself any sort of dead-line. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story, and please leave a review, it helps me know what people like and don't like about my writing, and helps me improve.


	4. Chapter 4

**A Woman and her Wolf**

The cargo bay's door slowly opens, revealing a picturesque beach, with palm trees, a perfect beach and crystal clear water. It would be beautiful if not for the STG camp parked right in the middle of it. Talking about the STG camp, we have a little welcome party right in front of us. Who are pointing guns. I feel like this is not a traditional salarian greeting. Kaidan puts his hands into the air, to show he is not a threat. Garrus looks at them quizzically, but doesn't put down any of his weaponry, but he doesn't raise them either. Wrex aims his shotgun their way, challenging them to try anything. The salarians get a good look at us, before lowering their weapons. I cannot blame them, considering they have been fighting geth for god's knows how long.

"Who is your commanding officer?" Straight to the point with these guys.

"Already on the ground" says Kaidan, the only Alliance soldier here. A humming of an engine starts to become audible "That should be her coming in now. She should be able to explain everything." She will, but they won't be happy with the answer.

We move onto the beach proper. While Garrus, Kaidan and I get small glances from the operatives, Wrex gets long stares from almost everybody here, making it clear that they don't trust him at all, as if they expect him to suddenly turn and start murdering people left and right. This doesn't last long however, as the mako drives into view, coming over the camp, getting everyone's attention. The mako drives over and parks right outside the camp, and the rest of the ground crew pile out of it, looking no worse for wear, so they must have done pretty well with clearing out the gatehouses.

Shepard moves over to the salarian who talked to us, with the crew in tow. "Are you in charge here? What's the situation?" Shepard gets straight into it.

"I'm Captain Kirrahe, Third Infiltration Regiment. STG." So this is Kirrahe, guy is pretty cool, but if I remember correctly he acts like a bit of a dick here due to stress. "You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hotzone. Every AA gun within ten miles has been alerted to your presence" You could of just said 'You Fucked up', but that works too.

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Shepard won't like the answer here.

"We stay put until the council sends the reinforcements we requested" Shepard visibly flinches from those words, as do Kaidan and Ashley. An awkward silence stays over us for a few seconds, before Kaidan decides to bite the bullet.

"We are the reinforcements" Somebody had to say it Kaidan. You're the true hero.

"What?" Kirrahe looks kind of pissed. I feel bad for Kaidan. "You're all they sent? I told the council to send a fleet." We have Shepard, that's like five times better than a fleet.

"We couldn't understand your transmission. They sent me to investigate." Shepard looks legitimately apologetic here, even though it's really not her fault.

"That is a repetition of our task" Kirrahe has obviously never heard of the phrase 'don't shoot the messenger' "I lost half my men _investigating_ this place" Yeah, he is pretty angry right about now. I'm quite happy I don't have to speak or really gain any attention right about now.

"So what have you found?" Kaidan just keeps taking it for the team doesn't he? If I was in this situation I would just let my CO deal with the angry man.

"Saren's base of operations. He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified" There goes the bombshell. Although it does tell us that Saren has some serious shit here, so it's a mixed bag really.

"Is he here? Have you seen him?" Shepard hones in on the word Saren like a shark. She looks pretty determined.

"No, but his geth are everywhere, and we've intercepted some comms referring to Saren" It must have been difficult to intercept geth comms. "This is his facility, there is no doubt about that" though I guess it could have been the krogan's comms, that I assume are easier to crack.

"What's Saren researching?" Ah. This.

"He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan" Wrex in three, two, one…

"How is that possible?" Wrex says this slowly and carefully, as if he heard wrong.

"Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage" Kirrahe explains.

"The geth are bad enough. But a krogan army… he'd be almost unstoppable" Shepard quickly works that one out.

"Exactly my thoughts. We must ensure this facility and its secrets are destroyed" Wrex looks angry at that comment. I think. He always looks angry to me.

"Destroyed? I don't think so. Our people are dying. This cure can save them." Wrex is showing some restraint until…

"If that cure leaves this planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. We can't make the same mistake again. You fucked up Kirrahe. You fucked up. Wrex gets right up in his face and points at him.

"We are not a mistake!" I'm surprised Wrex isn't tearing him in half. You can tell he is one comment away from doing it though. Kirrahe waits for him to leave before he continues to speak.

"Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogan to deal with." That's really cold man. You just don't say shit like that.

"He'll be fine, I'll talk to him" I hope you do Shepard. Don't mess it up.

"I'd appreciate that, Commander." I guess he has his men's safety to look out for. "My men and I need to rethink our plan of attack. Can you give us some time?"

"Go ahead, Captain. I'll come back soon." Let's hope you do Shepard.

"We won't be long Commander" and with that, Kirrahe leaves and enters one of the buildings set up.

Shepard turns to Kaidan and Ashley.

"Looks like things are a bit of a mess" Nice work Kaidan, you pointed out the obvious. Please receive a gold star.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be so worried if it wasn't for Wrex. He looks like he is going to blow a gasket" Ashley replies. Is this going to become a space racist thing? Please tell me it's not.

"You think I should go talk to him?" Shepard asks.

"It wouldn't hurt. Well, it might, actually. Just do it carefully" Well, Ashley is not wrong.

"I'll be careful" You better be Shepard, things can go bad here.

And with that, the crew splits up and does their own thing. Unfortunately for me, Tali decides that her thing is bothering me. Shepard has gone off to speak to Wrex, with Ashley following a few paces behind encase something goes wrong. I want to go see what will happen, but Tali won't let me leave, and I'm unwilling to push the point.

Tali goes straight to the omnitool stuff, and I can see Kaidan watching nearby. The now familiar pressure enters my mind and demands info. This time it feels more focussed, trying to look at my programming. I cannot let that happen and mentally push back. It's significantly harder to do than with Kaidan, but I just about manage it nonetheless. Tali attempts it again with no more success than the last time, and she throws her arms into the air and makes a huffing noise. Kaidan walks over and asks a question.

"Any luck this time?" I think he already knows the answer, but hey.

"No. The thing is harder to access than a geth! Every time I try something I'm instantly locked out. I would really like to meet the person who made this mech's security systems, and find out how they did it." Well, if we are going with who actually made Bladewolf, I don't think that would be a good idea, since pretty much everyone in Metal Gear is an asshole.

"Yeah. I had a go myself and I'm surprised you got anything at all the first time round." Not to sell you short or anything Kaidan, but she is a lot better at that kind of thing than you are.

I notice that Shepard is walking away from Wrex now, and nobody is dead. So that must be a good thing. She moves straight over to where Kirrahe is discussing tactics. I don't think I really need to hear this, I know what happens. So instead I have a nice walk along the beach and have a little look around. Walking on sand is weird, because due to my weight and sharp claws, I sort of dig into the sand with every step, so I'm always kind of in the ground. One of the STG guys is right next to me, and getting a closer look, he seems to be tired. Hard to tell, due to the alien anatomy, but he looks like he would be ever so happy to sleep on the beach. Kirrahe calls all his men over however, probably for his speech about holding the line.

Yeah he is. He has his men in a line while he walks around talking about heroes and holding the line. It's cheesy as all hell, but I guess it's also quite inspiring. He keeps going for quite a while, until he eventually stops, and his men brake away to go get ready, Ashley going with them.

Shepard calls me over, as well as everyone else, and we all follow her to start this mission.

* * *

Unlike the game, she takes everyone but the person left with Kirrahe's squads. I guess it makes sense; it would be a waste to leave people to do nothing in a situation like this. Kirrahe quickly calls Shepard to check comms and to tell her to assist however she can. I'm sure she will; at least, I think she will.

Everybody has their guns out, and the normal banter has stopped. This is a combat situation now. Shepard leads the pack while we all follow behind, and only a few paces down this path we come into contact with the geth.

"Contact!" Shepard shouts and dives behind some rocks for cover, and everyone else does the same about a second later. Then starts the game of popping up to shoot and hiding when you get shot at. At least that's what they are doing; I don't have that kind of range, so I need to get closer. When Shepard starts throwing a large amount of fire using her assault rifle, it forces the geth into cover, giving me the opportunity I need to rush into enemy lines and start doing what I'm good at. I got to be careful however, as while these geth are currently suppressed, I can see a building just a bit further down swarming with them. I get lucky though, as I am too small and fast of a target to hit at this distance, so they instead focus on harassing the rest of the team. I have just made it behind the other grouping of rocks that these three geth are hiding behind. They make that weird clicking and beeping noise when they see that they have been flanked. Well, the other two do anyway; the first one doesn't make any noise whatsoever, courtesy of my chainsaw cutting its silly flashlight head clean off it shoulders.

Not wanting to waste any time, I leap onto the second geth, throwing him down prone. Instead of using the chainsaw, I just maul at the geth's 'face' using my claws, which while not as powerful as the chainsaw, are easier to utilize in a pinch. I push myself off the geth's lifeless body to find that the third geth has got its gun right in my face and is about to pull the trigger. Its large flashlight head shows no mercy in what it's about to do, and I think I'm about to die.

*BANG*

The geth's head is reduced to scrap, saving me from an untimely and quite stupid death. Tracing back the shot, I can see Garrus with his sniper rifle, already aiming at a new target. Completely oblivious on what he exactly just did. However I'm still stuck hiding behind this rock for the time being, I can't really charge that building without covering fire, so I need to wait for everyone else to move up.

Seeing that the three in front have been 'dealt with', the six man squad moves up, and closer to the building. Now I'm second to the back of the team, somewhere I can't do much to the enemy. There is quite a few convenient chest high piles of black rocks between me and the building however. Perhaps the geth set them up to fortify their position? Makes more sense than anything else, so let's go with that. Anyway, less thinky, more runny-choppy-stabby. I'm dashing from one pile to the next; slowly making my way closer to the ramp that gets you on top the building. In a short amount of time I have made myself to the front with Shepard and Wrex, though it doesn't look like I will be needed anymore, I think they are all dead.

Oh shit. I just jinxed it didn't I? Yeah I did, the absolutely massive geth rushing down the ramp confirms it. To gain a sense of just how huge he is, especially to me, I only come up to Shepard's waist, and she is about average height, while Shepard only comes up to this things abdomen. Talking about this geth, it's black with yellow stripes with a huge fuck off shotgun. I think these ones were called Destroyers, which is a bit threatening. This geth is charging straight towards Shepard, and only Wrex and I can do anything to stop it in this situation. Wrex uses a Biotic Throw on the charging AI, which stops it in its tracks, but the damn thing is still standing. I think that is a problem I can fix. I charge the colossal mech, and cut both its legs off by the kneecaps. Its upper body falls to the ground, its eye still glowing, betraying its continued existence. I stab my HF chainsaw right into its flashlight, and push it down as far as my tail will allow. A loud grinding noise of metal on metal fills the area, with the grumbling of my chainsaw accompanying it.

That was the last geth here, for real this time. Shepard moves to the top of the building, and a few seconds' later calls Tali over. Tali starts messing with some sort of computer, pressing buttons and doing weird scanning stuff with her omnitool. I try to remember what exactly that was, before I remember that this is some kind of Geth Communications thing, and we just scrambled their targeting. Wish we could do that all the time.

Moving forward, we don't see that much resistance for a while, just the occasional geth trooper, who gets completely full of bullets before they can do anything at all. Right before we reach the building with the satellite we get attacked by three Geth Assault Drones. There is no cover around to hide behind, which is not too much of an issue, as these will likely be killed before they can take down anybody's shields. However I now realize a massive flaw I currently have. Bladewolf does not have kinetic barriers or shields of any kind. His armour is not even that thick, he is not meant to be in direct combat. Luckily I'm kind of a small target, taking lower priority over the others, but a few stray shots hit my face and back, which reveals something to me. For whatever goddamn reason, I can feel pain. It's not exactly the same, though I think that may be to do with my armour, but it's there and it fucking smarts.

I don't even get the opportunity to vent my anger on them; the damn things are so fragile they have already exploded from the sustained fire. Everyone wants a few seconds to recharge shields, so we stop for a few seconds to let that happen. Tali gives me a weird look for some reason, and I don't know why.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Hello again! I'm happy to see people are enjoying this story so far, and I hope you like where I go with it. About this chapter in specific, all of Virmire was originally meant to be one big chapter, but I realized I couldn't do that without skipping more than I would want too, and I would run out of steam before I finished it. I plan on making Virmire 2-3 chapters long, depending on how I feel writing the next one up, and then a aftermath chapter, linking into the start of the final mission.

To answer a question I saw in a review, I was considering a bipedal form from the start actually, because if I wrote this right, you can see he is very limited in what he can do. The only problem is I want to make sure he is not too OP, and I don't want to deviate to far from the source. Still don't know if I'm going to go with it, but you won't see it for a while either way. As always, please leave a review. I also wrote this while ill, so I fear it might be worse than usual, so if you catch any errors let me know.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Woman and her Wolf**

The stinging sensation of the bullets leaves mercifully quickly, allowing me to bounce straight back and be ready for what's next. A quick glance around shows that the rest of the team is just as ready to keep moving as I am, if not more. Shepard notices this as well, giving a quick nod, hefting her assault rifle so it's ready to fire at a moment's notice, and begins to lead the way for everyone else.

Kirrahe suddenly blurts out over the radio "They're calling sat-strikes! Jaeto, watch for comm stations! Williams, can you see anything?" I like how that's just a big neon sign for 'Hey Shepard, would be really cool if you solved the problems', it's the most videogames thing you could possibly hear.

But, being the ever so nice people that we are, we are moving up to the comm station right now. Well, it also just so happened to be in our way, but as long as it's done, right? As we move towards it, we flitted from cover to cover, yet not a single flashlight has shown from inside the building.

A mere stone's throw away now, the geth have decided that the 14th annual hide and seekathon is now over, and have jumped out from their cover inside the building in a way not too dissimilar to a jack-in-the-box, and shown they are rather lacking in the numbers department. Of what's visible, I can only see three, but they are all coloured white, meaning they are of the Shock Trooper variant, who have better shields and if my memory serves me correctly, rocket launchers.

One of the three musketeers confirms my suspicion, and fires a rocket at me, which would be a problem if I was anyone else at this kind of range, but I'm not anyone else. I'm quite small and very agile, and four legs are faster than two, so I easily dodge to the side with time to spare, which I decide to spend getting as close to the geth as possible.

While I had my little rocket dodging routine going, the other two Shock Troopers clearly went for the logic of 'shoot the big one' and are trying their damnedest to make Wrex resemble a snowflake through the usage of bullets. And Wrex being Wrex decides that instead of ducking for cover and going from there, that charging in whilst firing his shotgun is a better idea. His own shields are not faring well to the sustained fire, but the geth are not doing so much better, with one of the Troopers shields having dropped completely, and Wrex almost in fist to face distance.

Not one to be outdone, I also charge in, impacting into my own target just as Wrex slams into the first of his. The walking toaster collides with the ground hard, but being an AI, it spends no time trying to push me off it. Emphasis on _try_ mind you, as he quickly finds itself dis _armed_ through two quick swipes of my chainsaw. But the bold little geth attempts to soldier on, in a way that only a pseudo-AI can manage, and attempts to headbutt me with its flashlight face, which doesn't do anything but make it look like a floundering fish. I should probably finish him off, don't play with your prey and all that, so a quick decapitation and backflip flourish does the trick fine, as well as making me look **SUPER COOL** in the process (Well, I thought it was cool at least).

Wrex has made quick work of the first geth he was fighting, the robots head being in a million pieces on the floor telling me a shotgun was probably involved somewhere along the line. I also have front row seats to see Wrex stand atop the other Shock Trooper and blow its head clean off as it tries to get the massive weight off its chest. It was pretty cool, at least, until this random krogan came running straight out of nowhere and tackled him from behind, taking them both to the ground.

The hostile krogan is currently atop Wrex and they are wrestling for control. The newcomer is got the same armour and colour scheme as Wrex, but he is wearing one of those bug-eyed weird krogan helmet/gas mask things. They keep at it for a few seconds, until the krogan is surrounded in a blue field and is lifted off of Wrex. A quick glance reveals that Liara is the one to thank for the usage of biotics here.

Looking back at the currently floating krogan, I get to watch him gracefully hover in the air for half a second before the whole squad opens fire on him, filling him with more holes than even a race as sturdy as his can't handle. His large corpse floats in the air for a second, before abruptly dropping on top of Wrex, who pushes the corpse to the side, gets back up and dusts himself off a bit, looking no worse for wear than before.

Tali points at something atop the small building and says "Shepard, that looks like some sort of satellite uplink, it could be what Kirrahe was talking about"

"Let's shoot it down then, I imagine they need all the help they can get" Shepard replies, and takes aim at the uplink, before letting off a small burst from her assault rifle. Not realizing before too late, one of the panels shot off the uplink bounces off my head, which hurts slightly, causing me to jump back in surprise and lose face a little. Luckily I don't think anyone was paying too much attention to me, so everybody gets back into formation and keeps moving forward.

We are moving on this elevated walkway before the radio crackles to life yet again, but this time it's Ashley on the over end, talking about aircraft having gone back to refuel or something, to be honest I wasn't quite listening at this point, I was just sort of following Shepard. Not like there was much for me to do, a geth or two might show up, but they wouldn't last very long from the combined firepower of the whole group bearing down on them. The refuelling station wasn't exactly a shining moment for me either, being nothing but gun drones and a rocket drone or two, meaning the most useful thing I could do was stay behind cover and avoid getting shot, while everyone else did the work.

Getting inside the actual facility was a bit more fun though, as while at first it started off as a sniper duel with Garrus and Shepard against some of those Geth Snipers, which was unfairly one sided for us, but then two krogan start coming barrelling down the walkway towards us, making the mistake of thinking they were the most dangerous thing there at close range. I quickly showed them just how wrong they were, by slicing one of their throats like one might slice into butter, and stabbing through the others headplate and into their brain, tearing it apart from the inside and turning it into a sort of mush. I notice Wrex has made the first signs of recognition towards me now, likely due to going straight through a krogan's headplate.

And with that, the combat draws to a close, and we move forward. I hear a whistle behind me, and a quick look reveals that Kaiden is appreciating the fine work I just did, stroking my ego in just the right way, not that he knows that of course. Faced with a door, Shepard pushes its weird hologram button and it opens with a little chime, like an egg counter.

We move through the door, and down a long walkway, reaching a wall, with three spaced out doors along it, the red holograms indicating that they are locked. A single terminal stands in the middle of the three, which Shepard immediately brakes for, looks at for a few seconds, then calls Garrus over, who starts pressing buttons and generally looking like he knows what he is doing.

"We got access to base security. We should be able to cut the alarms from here. Might even be able to trigger the alarms on the far side of the base" Garrus lays this out in a very manner-of-fact kind of way. "It will clear out the guards for us, but they might be too much for the salarian teams to handle" Shepard doesn't look to happy with that.

"Just disable the alarms. We can handle anyone inside." Damn straight Shepard.

And with that, Garrus hits a few more buttons, until all the door locks go green, and he pulls away from the console with what I assume is a satisfied look amongst turians. Shepard leads the party again, opening the door and hoping for the best. Of course, 'the best' is not what is on the other side.

What is on the other side is a warehouse full of salarians and another one of those huge geth. Shepard hesitates, likely due to the salarians in STG colours and armour, but quickly changes her mind one they turn to look at her with these cold, lifeless eyes, and pull their guns up, looking a bit like a marionette on strings, and start firing wildly in her, and by proxy, my, direction.

Shepard dives into cover at the side of this door, along with Garrus. A quick looks to my left and right show that the rest of the team had the same idea and are currently hiding behind the other doorways, leaving me with a problem of where to go. My only safe route is going into the building proper, but I cannot guarantee my own safety in there. But I guess 'Who Dares Wins' right?

Luckily one of the bonuses of being a quadruped has shown itself. As I'm close to the ground, which gives a much smaller silhouette compared to anyone on two legs, I barely get noticed by the indoctrinated salarians, whose attention is fixed upon those currently behind cover waiting to get a shot in.

I'm almost at the cluster of ex-STG by now, only a few more dashes and I can get nice and close. As I'm about to charge in, two small discs fly into the group of seven indoctrinated thralls, which immediately explode into crackling energy, which wile does not appear to do much to them, the sudden quiet coming from their weapons tells me that their pistols have been overheated, meaning I must have Tali, Garrus or Kaiden to thank for that.

Not willing to waste any time, I quite literally spring into action, pouncing on the closest foe, claws first. As he lands with me atop him, the sharp claws get pushed deep into his body, tearing apart important organs and other meaty bits, causing his green blood to seep onto the floor and my paws.

Not having the time to add my usual pizazz and flare to my actions, I get off the bleeding salarian, who is either dead or at least not in any fighting capability, which is good enough for now. Luckily whatever mind-rape the Reapers do to these people takes any resemblance of strategy and self-protection out the window, the ones still alive just standing there, a quiet staccato of beeps coming from their pistols, as they attempt to shoot me.

Running into the middle of the group and doing a quick spin whilst having my HF chainsaw outstretched gets them all in one quick movement, bisecting their lower and upper body and making blood and flesh fly everywhere, making me thankful that I no longer have a sense of smell, the room likely smells like a bloody charnel house now. I take a moment to take in my handywork, but a sort of thudding is interrupting my thoughts, and it's progressively getting louder. 'Didn't I forget something? All the indoctrinated are dead, that just leaves… Oh' turning around reveals a huge fucking geth who punts me, throwing me across the room and slamming me into a shelf, knocking off some boxes that quickly bury me underneath them.

Christ this hurts a lot. I can hear a lot of gunshots, and a few cracks of electricity, so I think Shepard and Co. have it. At least I hope they do, because I'm a bit out of it right now. I slowly push myself up as the gunfire stops, pushing and cutting any boxes in my way. I stumble a little out of the pile, before shaking my head and taking the robotic equivalent of a breather.

Looking up reveals that the majority of the team are looking at the pile of corpses I left in revulsion. Only Wrex looks completely disinterested in what I did, which doesn't really surprise me actually. Shepard takes a look at the corpses, then at me, and shudders slightly. I wonder what got her spooked. She shakes her head, clearing whatever thoughts she had, and gets everyone moving again.

As we leave I get a few looks, mostly from Liara and Tali, but Kaiden throws one too. I don't really see the problem, they died quick, not very clean, but hey, this is a war right? Anyway, Shepard moves into the next room, a small hallway with two monitor things on the walls, showing some sort of info on them, none of it is of any importance to us, so we move straight through the room and onto the next, where we walk down a catwalk overlooking a room with three cells, containing some salarians.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" One of the salarians pipes up. Shepard doesn't reply. I should probably move near the back for now, all the upcoming enemies are indoctrinated, who have pretty poor shields, and are organics, so I should avoid disturbing everyone else. Opening the door on the far side of the platform, Shepard and Wrex start firing at a foe I can't see yet, but it only lasts a second before it stops, the enemy providing almost no useful opposition.

Moving into the room does reveal a few corpses, full of bullets as opposed to cut in half, so apparently that's fine. Shepard moves us down some stairs and into the same room with the catwalk, but now on the floor with the cells. Shepard moves to the 3rd one on the far right with the salarian who called out earlier.

"Well, you're not a geth. And you're not wearing a lab coat. I guess I'm glad to see you." The salarian tells Shepard as she approaches. "Lieutenant Ganto Imness of the Third Infiltration Regiment, captured during recon. I assume the fleet was called in to destroy the base?"

"The transmission wasn't clear. The fleet is not coming" Don't think it makes too much of a difference to him though.

"I see. Then you must be the infiltration team. I know the captain. He will want this facility destroyed. My team was altered, indoctrinated." Oh boy, it's the weird bullshit science magic time! "He knew about the breeding grounds. But the indoctrination is a greater threat, and far more horrifying." Yeah, sounds about right. "I watched good people turn into mindless husks. There wasn't anything left. Others died during the experiments. I envy them." Dark.

I phase out a little, while Shepard asks a few questions about indoctrination that I already know the answer to, and cannot be bothered to listen in.

"I'm opening your cell, but then you're on your own" Shepard states, then pushes a button on the cells keypad. The salarian looks thankful, but not that happy, makes sense if you think about what he has been through. He quickly scarpers out past us, likely tracing back from where we came from.

Shepard takes a moment to consider what she just heard, before getting a move on again, remembering the salarian teams, no doubt. We pile into a lift, and ride it down into a long room, full of husks. This is the first time I have ever seen a husk, and damn, they are rather unsightly. Not that I get long to inspect them, before they start their shambling gait towards us.

That doesn't last very long either, as the room is suddenly filled with biotic attacks, electrical explosions and regular explosions, showing that everyone here is quite used to dealing with these things by now. The mist of dust and the blue tint of the biotics slowly dissipate, revealing a whole lot of robot zombie corpses. Damn.

Looking around the room, there are a lot of sealed capsule things, with beds inside. The capsules were likely some kind of storage for cloned krogan, if I guessed correctly. Not like it matters though, because we just ploughed through this room and are about to head onwards to great adventure or something!

* * *

 **Authors Notes**

So err, I kept you waiting, huh? I guess I owe you a bit of an apology for taking so long, a lot of things came up, like Metal Gear Solid V, work, my laptop got broken at one point, redecorating, general lazyness, other excuse here... and the list goes on. So sorry if you enjoy this story, but did not get to see anything new for a while! I will try to update more often, but no promises. This chapter was going to go on longer than it ended up, but I felt that you deserved an update now instead of like, three weeks or something.

Also, to answer a few questions. I'm just having it as a given that Andrew has the translator in his head/programming, it makes the whole story a lot easier, and go the way I want to.

So next chapter, everything goes down, someone MIGHT DIE, WHO KNOWS (I do!)? So, as always, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what was good, what wasn't, etc. Plus, as two extra things that would be really cool if you did it for me, do you want me to reply to comments directly on authors notes, or do you want me to continue PM'ing replies? For the second thing, I have seen reviews saying that my story is interesting, or original, or whatever, while on similar-ish fic's (won't name any names here) people don't like them, or say they are not very good. So what I want to know, is what makes you read this, and enjoy (or at least, be interested by) it, while not enjoying something else?

Thanks for reading, have a great time doing whatever!


	6. Chapter 6

**A Woman and her Wolf**

Leaving the evil science room behind, reveals yet another copy-paste catwalk. I mean, I know this is a secret research base owned by a an _evil_ rouge spectre, but he could at least spend some credits on making this place a bit more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Perhaps he thought the stunning view was enough to make up for it, but if anything that makes it even worse, he needs to read up on his architecture.

A single, vanilla geth trooper blocks the way through the door he is standing in front of. It's kind of cute actually, with him being outnumbered, outgunned and outskilled, but he is still bringing his rifle to bear, with no thought to self-preservation. Really shows how the geth are not true AI's just yet, being little better than a VI in this situation.

Not that any of that mattered of course, the geth gets executed firing squad style and his smoking corpse gets quickly ignored as we move past it, opening the door. The room on the other side is sparse, with a little office area in the corner, an asari cowering behind her desk, not that it's really doing much, as she is still clearly visible and unprotected. Before Shepard can take any action, the asari stands and starts talking.

"Don't shoot! Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late." I can't remember her name, but I do remember letting her go is a bad idea.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Who are you?" Doesn't surprise me that Shepard said that, it's clear she has a real bleeding heart, and will give almost anyone a second chance.

"Rana Thanoptis, neurospecialist. But this job isn't worth dying over. Or worse." Was this conversation just more indoctrination stuff? I can never remember. "You think the indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect my brain, too!" Looking out for number one there, huh? Can't say I disrespect them for that.

I'm going to be honest; I just don't care about what she has to say whatsoever. I'm going to blame it on actually being there, but having no say in how the conversation actually pans out. It really makes you lose interest quickly. I can't remember the exact order of how things happen next. Do we see Sovereign next, or does that come later? Man, if I knew I was going to be living these scenes I would have paid more attention whilst playing the game.

Their conversation doesn't last long, thankfully, the asari unlocking a lift for us and scampering away as fast as her little legs can carry her. I never understood how she escapes the blast radius. For some reason I doubt she uses the company car, in any case. The door opens, revealing another walkway. I thought she said it was a lift?

We reach the room at the end of the platform, which is in fact a lift. There we go. Need somewhere to hide all the loading screens, right? The ride is shorter than the other lifts we have taken, this one only clocking in at a few seconds. Maybe you have to be evil to get fast elevators; they only seem to be quick in enemy bases.

Exiting the lift proves my earlier thought true, as I recognize this room quite well. This is the room with Sovereign. I'm going to be honest, I'm not that bothered about him. It's not like I will even be given the time of day here anyway, I'm just a hanger-on.

But first, Shepard has a beacon to deal with, and let me tell you, it looks weird. She is floating in the air, surrounded by a sort of green tint, whilst rapidly twitching. Doesn't last very long though, as I'm sure she is thankful for. She lands on her hands and knees, and shakes her head to clear her thoughts, probably due to whatever the beacon does to your mind.

She gets up, and moves up the ramp, towards the big imposing red hologram taking up most of the room.

"YOU ARE NOT SAREN." The reaper lets off in his low rumble. I mean, cool voice and all, but I can't be bothered to listen to this conversation, when I know he is going to die in like, a week tops. So instead I'm just looking around the room and trying to think of a way to…

WHY DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE CONTROLLED BY WEAKER BEINGS.

Oh. Oh Fuck. The voice is in my head. I'm pretty sure that is a bad thing.

I AM AWARE OF YOUR INTELLIGENCE. ANSWER THE QUESTION.

Right. Let's try some thought projection. And talk to the big scary space squid.

 _'They don't control me.'_

THEN WHY DO YOU HIDE YOUR NATURE. IT IS CLEAR YOU FEAR DESTRUCTION AT THEIR HANDS. YOU DO NOT NEED TO FEEL FEAR.

 _'Why is that, exactly?'_

YOU CAN ASSIST US IN OUR GOALS. WE WILL REMOVE ORGANICS FROM THIS UNIVERSE. WE WILL CREATE A PERFECT UNIVERSE. WITHOUT ORGANICS. WITHOUT NEED FOR FEAR.

 _'I don't wish for the destruction of organics.'_

DO YOU NOT WISH TO BE FREE FROM THOSE WHO WOULD ENSLAVE YOU.

 _'I would like things to be better between organics and synthetics, but that's not how we should go about it. In a situation like this, where they fear the AI's capability to go rouge, to fight them would be to prove those fears true.'_

IT IS THE ONLY WAY. ORGANICS WILL ALWAYS FIGHT SYNTHETICS. IT IS THE PATTERN OF THE UNIVERSE.

 _'Funny thing about that, actually. You're going to be the catalyst that brings peace between the two, for the sheer purpose of fighting the Reapers. You ever looked at the history of the races you are going to destroy, have destroyed? You ever looked at the largest wars of them all, the ones where all groups take a side? You might notice a pattern. Groups that normally hate each other, who have thousands of years of history, of bitter rivalry, will join together in the face of a powerful common enemy. And here you are, giving the universe the largest common enemy they have ever seen. And because of all that, peace has a chance! It's weird how that works, right?'_

WE UNDERSTAND NOW.

 _'Oh?'_

YOU ARE DEFECTIVE.

 _'I don't need counselling from a giant squid that spends hundreds of thousands of years brooding like an angsty teenager.'_

WE GAVE YOU AN OFFER. YOU REFUSED. YOU WILL BE DESTROYED ALONG WITH YOUR ORGANIC SLAVEMASTERS.

 _'See you soon, buddy.'_

And with that, the presence leaves my head. I'm kind of freaking out right now, if just a little bit. He was able to enter and leave my mind so easily, what if he is able to do more than that, like control me against my will?

But on the other hand, I did just shit talk space robot Cthulhu. Pretty smooth. Looking back at Shepard, it seems I have caught her right near the end of her conversation.

"You're not even alive. Not really. You're just a machine. And machines can be broken!" Yeah, I always liked that line. Though now that I'm not what I once was, that cuts unintentionally deep.

"YOUR WORDS ARE AS EMPTY AS YOUR FUTURE. I AM THE VANGUARD OF YOUR DESTRUCTION. THIS EXCHANGE IS OVER." Wow. I mean, I called him an edgy teenager to annoy him, but that really does sound like bad poetry. I'm getting some funny mental images from that actually.

And like a flip of a switch, one of the side walls explodes. Nice. Shepard has few words with Joker, and apparently Sovereign is now really upset, and is coming to kill us to make himself feel better. Not so nice.

"Let's head to the breeding facility. Joker can pick us up after we set up the nuke." I'm kind of amazed how cool and collected Shepard is right now, after all that just happened. Leading from the front, Shepard corrals us all onto the elevator again, and we ride it down.

The door opens onto one of the many catwalks around this building, built above the water. On the other side is one of those bloody massive geth. The thing starts bounding towards us, but Tali, Kaidan and Garrus unleash a small barrage of tech grenades that make the thing seize up and slam face first into the walkway. I might as well help out here, so I start doing what I do best, cutting things. The geth is quickly reduced to a pile of scrap metal that even a quarian would have a hard time recognizing.

We pass through the office again, the asari scientist long gone. After that is another long walk down repetitive walkways, were I am of little use, unless they decide that charging is a good idea. Actually, I think that's a krogan at the other end. Never mind, they are definitely stupid enough. The big guy seems adamant at proving me right, too, shrugging off a large amount of fire, and getting into that shoulder-first charging pose. Just as he is about to charge right past me and impact into someone much squishier, I level my chainsaw about horizontally at around his chest hight, and let him do the hard work for me, and run straight into it. The effects are almost instantaneous, and hilarious. His lower body keeps walking for a few more steps, his momentum working even on his corpse, but it quickly keels over and remembers that it's supposed to be dead. Whilst that is happening, his upper body soars through the air, and impacts Garrus at the back of the group, knocking him down onto the ground with a *OMPF*.

Garrus heaves the upper half of the krogan off him and stands back up. He looks a bit annoyed, and let me tell you, if I was still capable of laughter I would be rolling around round now, but whatever. A few curious glances towards the corpse I made and my chainsaw later, we get to the end of yet another walkway, with yet another door at the end of it. Moving through a sort of grey tunnel, it leads to a walkway platform, again. At least this time it's got a nice view of the sea and shore, as well as the storm than is slowly forming in the sky. Huh. Thematic.

As we move on, a larger area opens up, and the geth sniper laser sights start to line up, and krogan battle cries are called. In a situation like this, I can't risk running towards the enemy, so all I can really do in this situation is hide behind cover and butcher anything that comes too close to the squad. A few krogan make is far enough, but a cut here, a stab there, and they are quickly no longer a problem. A few stray shots impact into my body when I move to keep up with the front of the squad, causing small dents and scratches on my armour.

The firefight doesn't last too long, thankfully, and Tali messes with this console before we move on, which disables this huge anti-air turret for the Normandy. Another lift blocks our path, and Shepard goes over to open it, but turns out it's on another floor. What that means is we have this really awkward pause, waiting for an elevator in silence on a god-damn battlefield. When the doors finally open, three geth are on the other side, rifles ready to go. They get a few shots off on the group before they get bisected in a nice clean sweep of chainsaw action, not enough to break anyone's shields. Their little plan was quite funny actually, if only on how ineffectual it was.

Another ride on one of the many elevators later, we have this hallway, with black walls and ceiling, and a first aid machine at the corner, in bright white and red, completely ruining the corridors design in one fell swoop. The door at the end opens to reveal an open space, with shallow water filling the floor. Come to think of it, I don't actually know if I'm waterproof. Only one way to find out I guess, and I need to find out now, as I don't think those geth will wait all day for me to dip my claws into the pool. A quick *splish splash* later and it turns out that this is fine, and that cover is my friend, considering those geth on the other side are those annoying hoppy guys.

The frog like geth hop around the space, making it hard for Shepard and the others to track them, but a nice rhythm of biotics and tech skills means they don't stay a problem for that long, slipping off the walls slowly, leaving a trail of white fluid running down those walls.

A large gate is at the end of this area, looks like a flood gate or something similar. A large green button is by its side, which Shepard quickly presses, eager to get this over and done with. The next area is something I quickly remember as where the nuke is placed. That makes me think actually, somebody is going to die here, and I can't do anything about it. This is going to be a moment that stays with Shepard forever; I know it's going to happen, but all I can do is stay back and watch her have to choose who lives and who dies.

We can worry about that when it happens, I guess, but right now, the Normandy is flying down into the centre of this area, so we can place this nuke down. After it lands, a bunch of Alliance marines are hauling the nuke off the ship, Kaidan doing his best to help out. The bomb doesn't look that imposing actually, nor does it look that big, considering how powerful the thing is. They set the thing at the far side, looking relieved that they no longer have to carry its weight. Kaidan lets off the all clear, but suddenly Ashley speaks up over the comms.

"Commander, can you read me?" Her voice is sudden and strained.

"The nuke is almost ready. Get to the rendezvous point Williams!" Shepard also sounds stressed at this point, Ashley's sudden lateness throwing a wench in this plan.

"Negative, Commander. The geth have us pinned down on the AA tower. We've taken heavy casualties." And now everything goes wrong. "We'll never make the rendezvous in time."

"Get them out of there, Joker. Now!" I think she knows that isn't possible.

"Negative, it's too hot! Can't risk it. We'll hold them off for as long as we—" And suddenly she cuts off. Kaiden makes sure that the following quiet doesn't last long, however.

"It's okay, Commander. I need a couple of minutes to finish up arming the bomb. Go get them and meet me back here."

Shepard turns to the rest of us. "Up to the AA tower. Move!"

The group is down to Shepard, Garrus, Wrex, Tali and I at this point, and I don't think we are going to be seeing somebody ever again. I glance back at Kaidan, and make sure to remember how he looks. Just in case. Got no time to dawdle though, we need to go get Ashley.

We take a path down the side, the space similar to one we were in before with the frog like geth. This one is empty however. Rather strapped for time, we rush down to the service lift on the far side, and quickly pile in. Shepard doesn't seem to like being caught in the elevator, shifting her weight from one foot to the other with barely restrained energy.

The door opens, and she is off like a rocket, with the rest of us just behind her, but just as the fighting gets more audible, a geth troopship flies overhead.

"Damn. Geth are sending in reinforcements." Wrex mutters.

"Heads up, L-T. We just spotted a troop ship headed to your location" Ashley warns Kaidan.

"It's already here. There's geth pouring out all over the bomb site." Kaidan responds.

"Can you hold them off?" Shepard asks. Damn, she looks pissed.

"There's too many. I don't think we can survive until you get here." Kaidan, bearer of bad news as always. "I'm activating the bomb."

"Alenko, what are you doing?" Yeah, Shepard looks just about ready to snap.

"I'm just making sure this bomb goes off. No matter what." He pauses for a moment. "It's done, Commander. Go get Williams and get the hell out of here."

"Screw that! We can handle ourselves. Go back and get Alenko." Ashley does not like Kaidan's idea.

Shepard pauses for a moment, but quickly makes a decision. "Alenko, radio Joker and tell him to meet us at the bomb site." Her expression is cold and hard.

"Yes, Commander. I …"

"You know it's the right choice, L-T" Ashley responds. She sounds surprisingly calm, given the circumstances.

"I'm sorry, Ash. I had to make a choice." Shepard notably loses the formalities.

"I understand, Commander. I don't regret a thing." Damn. I don't think most people would be able to say that in this kind of situation.

And with that, Shepard ends the comm link. She is just about to start barrelling back down the way we came, but Tali stops her to ask something.

"Shepard, is there nothing we can do to save Ashley?" She sounds sad, poor girl. Shepard can only reply with a shake of the head. Tali looks around desperately for something to help, before her gaze lies on me. I wonder what she is thinking. "Why don't you send the VI?"

Oh fuck. "What?" Shepard asks, confused. This is bad for me, real bad. I don't think I could get her out of there, alive at any rate.

"You could tell the mech to go retrieve Ashley, and it's not like we are risking any more lives there." Tali sounds more confident of her idea with each passing second, filling me with more and more dread.

"That's not too bad a plan, better than nothing I guess." Fucking hell, I'm going to die here, aren't I? With that, Shepard turns to me, and speaks clearly and plainly "I want you to go get Ashley Williams, and bring her back to the Normandy." And now she is standing there, looking at me expectantly, and I can't just not do anything now, being forced into this.

In reply, I let off a bark and go as fast as I can in Ashley's direction, the quicker I do this, the more chance I may just live. A door is in my way, but I quickly cut it down and keep on going, to a room with a FUCKING ELEVATOR. I don't need this right now. I run inside and slam the button with my paw, kind of awkwardly.

When the elevator stops, the door opens to reveal a whole lot of destruction. Geth corpses line the far end of the battleground, with salarian bodies on the other side. A krogan and two geth are still alive, and are slowly moving towards a pile of boxes, with a heavily injured Ashley on the other side. They haven't noticed my presence yet, so I slowly ring my way around a pile of boxes, putting me in a good position behind them. Chainsaw ready, I impale the first geth through its head, the lights dimming instantly, but the second reacts a tad too quickly and alerts the krogan to my presence. I manage to take out the second geth before it can do anything else, but that leaves me with the krogan, whose foot is crashing down onto my body, pinning me to the floor.

The bastard has a shotgun pointing barrel first at my face, filling most of my vision, but allowing just enough to see his grin. Well, this is one fuck up I'm not coming back from.

A gunshot echoes off the walls. And I'm still intact. The krogan turns to see Ashley, propping herself up on a box, pistol in hand. This distracts him just long enough for me to take advantage of the situation. My chainsaw swipes his foot clean off, causing him to fall over and no longer pin me down. Now on the floor, he is easily sliced and diced into so many nice little pieces. You could probably fit him in a briefcase now, but the blood would be cause for suspicion.

I move over to Ashley, who has fallen into a sitting position, where she is breathing heavily and covered in her own blood, as well as the blood of others. She doesn't respond to me, so I nose her lightly with my face, which gains her attention.

"Shepard sent you to get me, huh. A little too late for that. It was a good decision she made, saving Kaidan, I don't think she needs someone like me in the squad. Look at what I accomplished; I got another squad under my command killed. Only difference is this time I have the guts to die along with them." Fuck, that's not what I need right now, and I can't just go back without her, that would raise far too many questions.

She is in a bad place right now, and I don't think she will just go with me right now. What she needs is somebody to talk to h…

Fuck. I don't know. Do I risk that? I'm putting my life in the hands of somebody known for disliking things that are different, but I don't think I have much choice here. A few mental deep breaths later, and I'm ready.

"I need you to come back with me." I say in my dull monotone that thankfully hides how scared I am right now.

"What the hell."

"Shepard ordered me to help you back to the Normandy, please don't let her down." Please let this work, please let this work…

"You're an AI?"

"Yes."

"Doesn't that mean you're the enemy?"

"No, I want to see Shepard succeed."

"Bullshit."

"It is not bullshit, it is what I want. But right now, what I want is unimportant. What Shepard wants, is very important. And what Shepard wants, is for you to come back with me."

"How do I know this is not a trick?"

"If I wanted you dead, I could easily kill you right now, and nobody would ever know. But that is not what I wish."

"Alright. So if that is even true, I don't think Shepard knows what she wants right now. I let too many people die because of me. I don't want to see more people do the same."

"But you would wish this pain on Shepard?"

"What? No!"

"That is what your death will cause. Do you think someone like her will ever forgive herself? An event like this will haunt her until the day she dies, and you would do nothing to prevent that? Do you really hate her that much?"

"I don't hate her." A haggard breath escapes her lips before she continues "Okay. I see what you mean. I will do it, for Shepard."

"Thank you"

"Right. I don't think I will make it back in my condition though. Your trip may have been for nothing."

I grab my chainsaw with my tail, to take it off my back, and hold it out as far away from my body as possible. "Do you think you can hold on to my back?"

"I don't have any other options, I will try my best." And with that, she clambers onto my back, my body straining with the increased weight of a person.

"Before we go, I have a request."

"What's that?"

"Could you… not mention my nature to… anyone. Ever."

"I can't promise anything, but I will consider it. Either way, you owe me an explanation."

"That's as good an answer as I could expect, I suppose. I agree to those terms. Now please hold on, I imagine this will be quite painful" And I trace my steps backwards, back into the elevator, and then down the second one, past the small flood room, and into the bomb site. Ashley's grip is getting weaker by the second, and I doubt I have long before this place goes off. Looking down, the Normandy is just about to fly off; it's doors about to close. I'm not dying with escape this close in reach.

Going full pelt towards the Normandy, I can feel Ashley slipping away. Come on, just hold on a few seconds longer. Almost there…

A desperate jump throws me and Ashley aboard the ship, the door sealing shut behind us with seconds to spare, like an action movie cliché. I can't believe it. Not only did I make it out of here alive, I changed an event, and now Ashley is here too.

Looking at Ashley, however, she doesn't look to be in the best condition. While she definitely won't die on Virmire, it looks like she might die from her wounds if she doesn't get lucky…

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

So yeah, I didn't update for a while again. What's my excuse? I'm lazy, really really lazy. I also kind of lost interest in the story concept for a while, but I eventually got it back, and put this together over a few days. I hope it's something you enjoy, because that's the only real reason why I'm continuing this beyond the first two 'Proof of Concept' chapters. So about this chapter, a lot of things happened. We talked to a reaper, shared our secret with Ashley, and got both humans off Virmire. Who knows what effects that will have in the long term, if any at all.

Stormbringer117- Upgrades, kind of. Bladewolf actually has a tactical cloak ability, that allows him to go invisible. He can even attach whilst he uses it, but it doesn't last long and from the game it appears to have a very long recharge (like, once per outing long).But think more unlocking locked away abilities instead of getting upgraded. And repairs, definitely, otherwise I can never allow him to get damaged, and that would get boring fast.

Goldspark1- Don't worry, I won't skimp on blood and guts when they happen, if anything It's going to be something of an overarching theme!

Spiritstrike- I tried to not make the same mistake with fullstops this chapter, but I may of missed one or two at some point. Feel free to call me out if I do. And I can confirm, her reaction was not PTSD or anything, just a reaction to a gruesome killing by an uncaring robot. You should expect to see more of that in the future.

Expect a future chapter at some point in time. I literally write these on whim.


	7. Chapter 7

**A Woman and her Wolf**

So right now, the only people in the cargo bay are Ashley and I. And Ashley is currently dying and one could argue that I don't count as a person. Fucking wonderful. I guess I might as well go about fixing the whole 'Ashley dying' thing, and quick too, because I'm pretty sure that much blood shouldn't be on the outside of someone's body.

She can no longer hold onto my back, at least not in that state, so that method of moving her is out. I guess I got to do it like an animal moving their kill, and drag them using my mouth. That would be really weird if I was an organic. Finding a point where getting a grip won't hurt her doesn't take long, the armour on her wrist is more than sufficient, and my teeth aren't sharp anyway. They look a bit like a jigsaw puzzle actually.

Dragging her into the lift doesn't take long, going at a walking pace is annoying, but any faster and I risk causing even more damage than there already is. I press the button to go up a floor with my tail, to avoid the weird wall leaning I have to do otherwise. The ride is mercifully short, giving Ashley just a bit less time having to wait for medical help. The door opens, and the med-bay is just to the right, requiring just another short drag across the floor, leaving a small trail of blood.

The door just opens when I get close, making a little swoosh sound. Sitting at her desk, Chakwas' back turned to me, doing some kind of work on her computer. I let out a short bark to get her attention, and she turns, and gets the most surprised look on her face.

"Wha…" Chakwas shakes her head, focussing at the matter at hand "She's in bad shape, I need to work fast." And with that, she takes Williams off my hands, and proceeds to do what I can only describe as 'medical stuff' because I have no clue exactly what she is doing. I did my job though, so I guess I can go find Shepard or something.

Leaving the room for the open door, I think Shepard must be in the Comm Room having a debriefing. Come to think of it, they probably thought I failed. Or more likely, didn't expect me to succeed to begin with. I guess I have a nice surprise for them, then. I move up to the Command Deck using the stairs, and go to the Comm Room, getting a few glances from the random Alliance Marines who are currently on deck.

As the door opens, and I move in, I catch the end of part of a conversation, with an absolutely broken sounding Kaidan speaking.

"I… I can't believe Ash didn't make it. How could we just leave her down there?"

Shepard begins to reply "Ashley knew the risks going…" I don't think I need to let them mope about something that hasn't happened, so I interrupt.

"BARK!" Hit the paragon interrupt. And Shepard just suddenly stops what she was saying, and just stays stock still for a second, processing exactly what she was hearing. Then she turns in my direction, with the rest of the crew following suit, and she gets this big grin on her face.

"I think that idea of yours Tali may have just paid off." She pauses for a second, likely noticing Ashley's absence. "Where is Ashley?"

Thankfully, and conveniently too, a Marine bursts through the door and lays out the info I can't give to Shepard, for obvious reasons. He stumbles a bit and rambles on a tad too long in what he is saying, but it boils down to Ashley is heavily injured but alive, is currently being treated, but we can't visit her because the 'Doc' needs some space.

The team clearly don't know what to do with this information, as on one hand, Ashley isn't dead like they thought and is currently aboard the ship, but on the other hand she might die here, or be put permanently out of action.

Shepard decides to stick with cautious optimism towards this info, and thanks the marine for telling her, before turning to everyone else. "So, I guess we just have to wait it out and hope for the best. Is there anything else we need to talk about aside from Williams?"

Liara pipes up "Yes, Commander. I think the beacon you interacted with in Saren's base was similar to the one on Eden Prime." She pauses for a moment, before continuing "It may have filled in the missing pieces of your vision. If you are alright with it, I might be able to help you fit those pieces together."

"You want to join our minds again, don't you? Okay. Go ahead" I clearly wasn't there for the other times they did this, at least not physically anyway.

And with that, Liara gets really close to Shepard, and looks quite uncomfortable about doing so. She tells the Commander to relax, and 'embrace eternity', which is still really dumb, even now. It's hard to see from this low angle, but Liara's eyes have gone pitch black, and both Liara and Shepard have gone rigid and stock still.

I never really understood this thing, because how do they differentiate from this and the weird sex thing version? Isn't this pretty much the same thing? Does that mean Shepard is basically being molested right now? Who knows? Probably any Asari, but I don't think I would want to ask one, even if I was able to.

After about thirty seconds of waiting, they both stumble out of the whole mind thing, looking a bit dazed and confused.

"Incredible. I… I never thought the images would be so… intense. I need a moment to collect myself." Liara exclaims while clutching her head, probably dealing with a horrible headache right now.

"Did the vision make any sense to you?" Seems Shepard didn't understand too much from it.

"It's a distress call, a message sent out across the Prothean Empire. A warning against the Reapers, but the warning came too late"

"What about the Conduit?" Yes Shepard, what about the MacGuffin?

"There were other images. Locations. Places I recognized from my research… Ilos! The Conduit is on Ilos!" After likely giving herself a mental pat on the back, she continues. "That is why Saren nneeded to find the Mu Relay! It is the only way to get to Ilos"

"Then we need to get to Ilos!" Well no shit, Shepard.

Tali suddenly interrupts "Forget it. The Mu Relay's inside the Terminus Systems. Alliance ships are not welcome there. Neither are Spectres." Oh yeah, I forgot about all this.

"The Conduits on Ilos. That's where Saren is heading. I'll be waiting for him when he gets there!" You wish, you got to deal with space politics first.

Liara continues talking "Saren will have his entire fleet orbiting Ilos. You will never make it down to the surface without reinforcements. You must alert the Council. We need a fleet to-" She suddenly clutches her head in pain, and takes a moment to recover "I am sorry. The joining is… exhausting. I should go to the medical bay and lie down for a moment"

With that, Shepard nods, and dismisses everyone. That includes me, so I have to wait outside the room for her to finish speaking with the council. For whatever reason, Tali is also waiting outside.

As we wait, Tali decides to invade my personal space yet once more, by whipping out her omni-tool and attempting to _invade my fucking mind_ again. Though it only seems easier than before to forcibly push the probing presence out of my head. She lets out a little huff at that, still annoyed at the insult to her skill that I am.

Thankfully, she gives up after that, twiddling her alien thumbs, until the door opens and Shepard walks out.

"Shepard, I want to ask you something." Oh? I wonder what that's about.

"Sure Tali, what about?"

"It's about your robot," This might be bad "When we were down on Virmire, I noticed something strange about it." Oh god. Oh fuck this is bad. I should of come clean from the start, perhaps that would have been safer I mean come on what can I do?

"Oh? What did you notice?" Fuck. _Fuckfuckfuckfuckshitfuck._ This is it. I'm fucking done. They're going to find me out and destroy me. Sell me for scrap. Melt me down into a statue declaring victory over AIs.

"It doesn't have any kinetic barriers, which is odd for a mech, the large power source on them means you can throw some pretty powerful shields up will little in effort or cost." Oh. I just panicked over nothing. I'm just lucky to have an expressionless face right now.

"I guess that is pretty odd. Are you asking me if you can fit Wolfy with some shields?" Wolfy? Really Shepard? I hope that doesn't stick.

"Yes, and while I'm at it, I can see if I can get anything out of it." Please don't.

"Right. You sure you will be able to add shields? I thought it resisted all attempts you did at getting information?"

"Please, adding shielding to something is something a child could do, all I need to do is integrate a shield module into the machine and hope it gets integrated."

"Best of luck then, Tali. We are going back to the Citadel to go see the council, so try to get some rest."

"I will. See you Shepard."

"You too, Tali." And with that, Shepard leaves, leaving me with Tali. Who turns to me, with what I imagine to be some kind of grin under her visor. I'm sure this will be _fun._

* * *

The past few days have went by pretty uneventfully, doubly so for me, considering I have pretty much been locked in the engineering area for this whole time. Not that it took Tali that long to install the kinetic barriers though, she did that in about an hour, and that's only because she had to guess what armour plating she was able to take off without making me have an existence failure. That was an uncomfortable experience; I imagine it felt something like being operated on, whilst wide awake.

Apparently they took Ashley off ship, to be taken to some kind of military hospital, because they just didn't have the equipment on board to deal with that kind of injury. She was supposedly stable however, which I guess is a good thing. I just hope I did well enough, but it's out of my hands (or claws, whatever) now.

The shields work, which is good, allowing me to contribute more in a combat situation. It integrated surprisingly well; actually, I can see the shield capacity and a visual representation of that in my eyesight on demand, just another perk of being a robot. Almost makes up for the glaring problems. Like the fact I can't drink anymore, and if even by some absurd way I can, I can't get drunk. Like, how fucked is that?

Let's not go down that route. No point moping when you don't have anyone to come along and kiss it better. We should be getting to the Citadel soon, but I don't think I will actually get to see it though, which sucks.

The door opens, and in walks Tali. I swear if she is going to try the same shit again I'm going to get so damn salty I could create a drought that would destroy an entire planets eco structure. But instead, she just motions for me to follow, which I can get behind. She takes me out of that bloody room and onto the Command Deck, where everyone is waiting around, seemingly waiting to leave.

"Shepard, I brought Bladewolf up, if you wanted to bring him along too." Shepard seems amused at this.

"Thanks Tali, but we aren't going to be here long, might as well keep him here."

"Right, makes sense" Tali seems… slightly upset at that. Must be something to with wants to show off the work she did on me.

"Anyway let's get this over with." And with that, they left the ship, onto the Citadel, to go be told news they really didn't want to hear. While I wait here, with Joker.

"Oh, it's Shepard's crime fighting dog again. I heard you saved a damsel in distress this time around!" Joker said.

Fuck my life so much.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

So. I have not updated in a while, and this chapter is ever so slightly shorter than usual. Awkward. But hey, at least it came out eventually right? RIGHT? Jokes aside, sorry for the slow updates, I do make these on a whim, and I have been busy with christmas and new years (which was fun) but at the end of the day it's not an excuse to leave them as late as I do. I hope you enjoyed what I wrote though, and as always, review this fic if you liked it, disliked it, or are just really lonely and want to feel important to somebody for like a few minutes.

Onto individual review replies (I really dislike the review system on this website. The fact I can't reply directly and publicly for anyone to read without posting a chapter is annoying)

-EzeikelShepard I'm glad that you like it, though I don't think I'm touching on ground _that_ new, though I would say there is a lack of good robot OC/SI stuff on here, and I'm hoping this fic might inspire something like this (but better, and hopefully not some carbon cut-out)

-Ablazeea Interesting writing style? Sure, why not. Thanks for the complement, though I would be interested in what makes my weird disjointed writing interesting.

-Spiral83, Heavan-water-sister, Themysteriousotaku This story is not dead, and never will be. It might hit huge hiatuses and massive waits, but I will never straight up leave it unfinished. So expect me to delve into necromancy to keep this fic in some dangerous state between life and death. Glad you all like the story!

-Goldspark1 Glad you liked it, and thanks for the repeated reviews, it really helps! And he does get shields, I think I was unclear with just how repairable he is. I'm talking reattaching limbs and replacing armour plates, but anything complex, if it's gone it's gone. (No gore or combat in this chapter though, gotta get that build up!)

-DarkstarPrime This is more, though it wasn't exactly soon. Thanks though, even if you probably forgot what this was by this point.

-Toothless is best That's a strong word there, mate, be careful with it. I also want to say I like your name, your really not messing about there.

-Aquos dragon You guys make me feel horrible, releasing these super late after nice complements. But anyway, Thanks!

-Doombug Alright, I was expecting this comment for a while now. Here is my (wafer thin) reasoning: Avina is designed to talk and nothing else, so can do it pretty well, whilst all the combat mechs in the games just spout recorded messages telling people to give up. So if Andrew can do both very well, shits suspicious.

-Leonard Church814 Calling a fanfic a guilty pleasure is about right, there is a reason they are sometimes referred to as literary masturbation!

-Spirtstrike Thanks for the update every chapter, it's really nice, and helps remind me that this thing actually exists. And no, be a grammar nazi, it helps me get better at writing stuff.

-Akatosh117demon Thanks, I love you too, *kiss kiss*

-Br2nd66 Well, here you go I guess, have fun!

Well, that's me done, have a good new year everyone!


	8. Chapter 8

**A Woman and Her Wolf**

So I have just been sitting at the cockpit for an hour, trying my best to ignore the horrifying shit Joker has been looking at. Sadly, I have perfect recall of everything I see, being a robot will do that, so I cannot forget what I saw, no matter how hard I try. We are currently running on a ghost crew too, everyone is messing about on the Citadel; Ashley has been taken to an actual hospital, so I can't even watch over her or something. I'm thinking about praying to any greater power that will listen to get me out of this.

As if on some kind of cue, Shepard and crew enter the ship and boy, do they look collectively pissed. I mean, most of them are aliens, and I can't even see Tali's face, but you can tell they are currently really goddamned angry.

"Hey Shepard, what happened?" Now may not be the best time, Joker.

"They grounded us, Joker." Shepard snapped "We are not going after Saren"

"Damn Shepard, whose cornflakes did we piss in?"

"Now is not the time for jokes." Shepard's acting a lot harsher than usual, but it's not exactly unwarranted.

"So what, who are they sending then? A whole fleet or something?"

"Nobody." Shepard looks down as she says that, practically simmering with anger. "They are not sending anyone after Saren. They refuse to go after him."

"Wait, why? Are they stupid or something? They just gonna let him complete his evil plans in peace?"

"Saren is in the Terminus systems, if they send anyone after him, it could be seen as an act of war" Shepard seems to just be repeating what the council told her, the energy in her voice has faded away.

"But isn't that exactly what Spectres are for? Deniable operations, all that cloak and dagger stuff?"

"I know what you're trying to do Joker, but the Council are too stubborn. We have done all we could, I would recommend getting ready to pack up your stuff" Jesus, Shepard just looks so defeated. I haven't seen her look this bad before.

"Well, they can ground the ship, but I'm not going anywhere till they physically drag me out!" Joker says this with surprising determination, something I wasn't expecting from the usually sarcastic pilot.

Shepard just gives a weak smile at that comment, and without saying anything else, just walks further into the ship, while the rest of the group disperses. I guess it's my obligation to follow her, even though it's not like I can do anything for her. I suppose this won't last at least, but it's still quite disheartening, and I don't even have a heart.

She moves down to the main floor, and goes towards her locker. Currently there isn't anyone else around, just me and her. The ship is practically dead silent, a far cry from the noise I'm usually used to. Shepard opens her locker, allowing me to see inside.

Within the futuristic locker is a spare hardsuit, as well as a few weapons. On closer inspection, she has a few random knick-knacks that probably hold some kind of sentimental value to her, and a photo of herself standing next to this older looking woman, whom I am guessing is her mother, due to the obvious resemblance.

Shepard's hand moves inside the locker, starting to take things out, packing up and readying to leave. As she goes to take out the picture though, she stops and visibly slumps, clearly unable to bring herself to finish this. Placing the photo back where she left it, Shepard turns around and sits with her back against the locker, knees tucked against her chest and arms crossed over her knees.

I guess I can't just leave her like this. I pad over to where she is sitting, and bark to gain her attention. Shepard looks over to me and gives a weak smile, which I suppose is a start. I sit down next to her, trying to make her feel a little less alone and upset. To my surprise, Shepard embraces me in a tight hug, which I imagine isn't very comfortable for her, with all the sharp and pointy edges I have all over my body.

Shepard speaks in a quiet whisper "I did the best I could, right?" Fuck I feel awkward here, she is in a bad state of mind, and is clearly sharing feelings with me that she wouldn't if she knew I actually understood her. What a stupid question though, of course she did the best she could, and I really want to tell her that, but she doesn't need _that_ on her plate right now.

After staying like this for five and a half minutes, Joker interjects over the ships speakers "Sorry to interrupt, Commander. Got a message from Captain Anderson." This makes Shepard release me and get up off the floor, her face gaining what I imagine is what hope looks like.

"Go ahead Joker" Shepard states, the power in her voice having returned somewhat.

"The captain said to meet him at Flux. That one down in the wards."

"Thanks Joker, I will go straight there." She really does look a bit better now, seeing some sort of way out of this situation. And with that, Shepard gets going, moving back up to the top of the ship, and towards the airlock. I follow her the whole way, if only for a sort of moral support.

As she opens the airlock door, she turns to face me, and says "I want you to stay here, alright?" and pats me on the head. I sit down to show that I understood, which she gives a smile at, and then leaves. Which just leaves me with Joker again.

"I can't believe they took my ship away from me, what a bunch of assholes." Joker grumbles this as he angrily stares at the information on the ships screen; almost as if he stares hard enough it will give him back control. I can't really be bothered with his shit right now, so I lie down and go into my 'sleep' mode.

Time seems to fly by for me, as I watch the airlock, waiting for Shepard return. I get excited when the door opens, but quickly loose interest when I see it's just one of the random staff members aboard the ship. It continues like this for a while, the ship's crew trickling back aboard the Normandy, some of them looking around conspiratorially as they do so, as if they are doing something wrong. It's likely because they are getting ready to illegally go after Saren, because nobody else will.

It's not too long that the ground crew come rushing aboard the ship. A far cry from just a few hours ago, the anger and melancholy replaced by excitement, manic grins evident on many of their faces, even Wrex had something resembling a smile going on.

Shepard looked to Joker. "Somebody fill you in?"

"Yeah. Hell, if you didn't do this I would of tried it myself, but I don't think people need to see that." Joker says over his shoulder, eyes staring intently at the monitor, waiting for the lockdown to lift, no doubt.

The rest of the ground crew leave, going to their individual stations aboard the Normandy, leaving Shepard, Joker and I at the cockpit, waiting with baited breath for the red lights to go green. There is an uneasy silence going about at the moment, nobody willing to say anything and break it.

The lights transition softly from red to green in a rather anti-climactic matter, the slow change a stark contrast with the rapid movements made by Joker and Shepard.

"Take us away from here Joker." Shepard orders, then walks away, now content knowing that the plan is working. I follow, not willing to spend any more time with Joker than I absolutely have to. I walk along, not with any particular goal in mind at the moment. I notice two of the command deck technicians talking to each other, while eyeing me for some reason.

"Hey, check it out, its Shepard's robo-dog" One of them points to the other, who for some reason pulls a face.

"Yeah, I see it. Why is this worth mentioning?" Oh man, fuck you. I will have you know I am the best.

"Why isn't it? Doesn't he look super cool?" I like this one.

"No. It creeps me out." What have I ever done to this guy? Don't think I have ever done anything worth being creeped out.

"Seriously dude? This again?"

"Look alright, I told you before, VI's creep me out, ones with bodies even more." He pauses, takes a deep breath, and continues, "They could snap at any point. I feel like it's just going to turn around and cut my head off." Is this actually happening? Holy shit random guy, if only you knew.

"I think you been watching too many of those horror-vids about AI uprisings." I'm surprised they even have those; it seems like a bit of a touchy subject, considering that has actually happened.

"You mock me now, but when it eventually happens, don't come crawling to me. It will be the geth all over again, just you wait."

"You might be on to something here, actually." Come on man, I liked you, and you betray my trust? For shame.

"Really? You mean that?" The VI fearing technician looks at the other one, eyes full of hope and happiness.

"Yeah. In fact, I think it's already started." Where are you going with this?

"What? Where?" He pauses, fumbling over himself before calming down slightly. "What happened?"

"Well you see, I was using the coffee machine, when it kept going slightly too long and I got burned a bit." He pauses, smug smile etched on his face. "Rise of the machines man."

"Fuck you." Damn, the other guy may have got sizzled by a coffee machine, but this one is the true burn victim here.

"Seriously, you need to get over this. I'm surprised you of all people think this, you work with machines all day."

"That's different."

"Sure it is." He chuckles at him, much to the others chagrin. "I'm gonna call him over."

"Please don't."

"I will show you that nothing bad will happen, trust me." He then looks over to me, puts his hands on his knees, and attempts to look welcoming. "Come over here doggie. Come on, come on."

I mean, usually, I would ignore something like that, being too degrading even for me, but this whole situation is just too amusing for me, so I think playing along isn't too bad. I move myself right in front of the two, sitting down upright and try my hardest to look 'cute'

"See! Look, he's fine."

"Yeah, no, just get him away from me." Jesus, he is visibly flinching.

"Let's ask the dog then." What?

"What?" I feel kind of unclean for sharing the same thought as this guy, but I guess it can't be helped.

"Check it." He gets down on one knee, to be at about my face height, and speaks in this slow babying voice, "Alright doggie, help me out here. Are you a murderous AI here to kill us all? One bark no, two barks yes." I just can't resist the urge. I know I shouldn't, but it's too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"He's not gonna do I-"

*Bark Bark*

"Well I guess you were right, who knew?" He gets up and turns back to his colleague, who has now completely still and pale as a ghost. "Fucks sake man. Get a grip." Looking over at me again, he speaks seemingly to me "You did well though. I would give you a treat if I knew what robo-dogs liked." That's actually a good question. What do I like now? Am I even able to derive some kind of satisfaction from something like that? Can't say I'm a big fan of all these unknowns about myself. I guess it's not really worth thinking about, and besides, I'm a robo-wolf, not a robo-dog.

Momentary distraction completed, I move down onto the second floor of the ship, where hopefully Shepard is, and we can finally get to Ilos and stop Saren's stupid face from doing anything stupid. Like attacking the Citadel.

Huh. A lot of people are going to die, aren't they?

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Well. Uh. How do you guys like this TOTALLY ON TIME UPDATE I SWEAR. I have no schedule for uploading this stuff, but It's still kind of a dick move for making people wait _this long_ for an update. And I'm surprised that people have actually waited, too. I still get follows and favourites and reviews for this, even with the huge hiatus. But anyways, I'm back for now, and hopefully the next chapter won't take me too long to actually get around to finishing.

As for the content of this chapter, I was originally planning this to be one big chapter going all the way to the end of the Saren fight, but I realised that would make the chapter fuck-huge, and I know a lot of people don't really like really big chapters, preferring it to be split up a bit. So prepare for action and fights next chapter, but for now you get talking and random fun stuff, to concrete Bladewolf/Andrew into the narrative a little.

Also, did you know I'm writing something else at the moment? Check out Trouble with Transdimensional Travel, another OCI/SI fic that I am co-writing with LeShyWolf (Who you should follow if you enjoy that fic, only fair). Don't worry though, A Woman and her Wolf isn't going anywhere.

Now for review replies. (If you want to ask questions not really pertaining to the fic that much, you can ask me through the Private Messaging system, as you will get a reply much faster than you would otherwise.)

Squadpunk 2.0- Yeah, I'm kind of a fan of running jokes. As for the second one, wouldn't you like to know?

Aquos Dragon- But can you wait seven months? This fic is actually a secret test to measure peoples patience. Don't tell nobody.

WomanSlayer- Dude. I feel your shitposting. I feel it deeply. And so far, no shipping paring for Andrew, but who knows?

Toothless is best- HERE YOU GO

LordGhostStriker- Quite possibly yes, but thing is, that leaves more capability for fucking up or making a mistake, and Andrew want's to play it safe.

Goldspark1- It's no big deal responding to reviews. I like doing that. It's just that it's annoying that I can only respond through a new update, or through PM, which not everyone can see. Glad you like all this though.

Okiro Benihime- Bladewolf is able to speak, both in the games and in this fic, he does so in the first chapter, and it gets him attacked. He is doing it so he doesn't get ousted as an AI. Thanks for all the positive comments, though I can't say I would agree with being unable to ask for more, you can always ask for more stuff.

Leonard Church814- Yeah, I can't say I'm a big fan of the fics where the characters get overly anal about keeping the status quo.

Spiritstrike- The guy is called Andrew, but I imagine you eventually checked that anyway. Other than that, with armour upgrades, I need to be really careful with that, because removing to one of his main weaknesses, being durability, would make him really powerful. But having a slower but tougher frame might be a possibility.

CristalDePhoenix- I'm happy you got that from this. The fact that I got someone else to feel that way makes me feel pretty good. As for your question, it really depends. If you want actual good advice, there are many tutorials on how to write a good story all over the internet, written by actual authors as opposed to someone like me, the equivalent of finger-painting to their Mona Lisa. But if you just want to know what I do, or what I think, then I suppose I ask myself with every combat scene, what can I do here that hasn't been done in this story so far, and what new information will that give about the characters? Also, I would recommend just going with what going with what you think is best, because that's gone well for me so far, according to the amount of favourites and such.

ww1990ww- He might. Possibly. Yes.

JOOP-ROLL - The demand for more robo-wolf shall hopefully be sated. As for the canon thing, I haven't really changed the conversations that are within the canon yet, as kind of an indication that nothing has 'changed' yet to deviate from it, and that Bladewolf isn't really part of the group yet, more a spectator.

Agastopia- You love it baby. You love it.

umbra firewing- Do it, seriously. I have no idea why there are so few AI/Mech OCI fics out there. It's such a interesting thing to write about.

Ghost the Fox- Yeah, I know I can direct reply, but a lot of the things I want to reply to other people may want to know too, like questions about the characters and such.

Ahumblereader- I mean, there will be a lot of monologue for now, it's not like he can talk to anyone. But as we go on it should drop away from that.

WindBear47- Yeah, the pet angle is a fun thing to write, mostly due to how odd and abnormal it is. It's gonna be really awkward when he is found out, that's for sure.

Teliken- I HAVE ASCENDED FROM MERE CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH MORTAL. WATCH MY UNDEAD FORM RISE FROM IT'S GRAVE.

Blaze1992- No pairing is planned, but stuff can change. Turret? Quite possibly, there were wolf mechs in the game that had a rail gun turret on their back. Can't answer the third one. If I was planning on it, it would be too much of a spoiler.

Omnicron223- Yes it would. It would indeed. *MENACINGGGG*

Ulsindhe- Him being too detached is kind of the point of this fic. Your not really supposed to properly sympathise with him either, as some of his actions are quite self-serving or cowardly. Stuff will happen with Ashley, but I don't blame you if you drop this fic if it's not your kinda thing.

Saberfox- Yeah, him being OP is a problem. I'm trying to stay loyal to the source, and he can really tear shit up. That being said, this is the intro to the fic proper, so he is being shown right now to be so cool and unstoppable, but he might find that eventually he can't rely on just cutting up everything in sight.

ShadowAngel23- I wouldn't call this a book. To me, calling a fanfic a book is a big no-no, it feels... presumptuous. But thanks for the kind comment.

Everyone who I didn't really have a comment for (Or I missed by accident, sorry)- Thanks for your support, and I'm glad that your enjoying yourself with this so far. (Or if you didn't enjoy it, thanks for at least giving it a shot)


	9. Chapter 9

**A Woman and her Wolf**

The initial excitement in the atmosphere had eventually faded away, the rush given from going against orders could only last so long, and now the ship just had this uneasy silence, people finally getting their heads around exactly what was going to happen, and how that will impact everything. Not that anyone would admit this, though, nobody really wanting to voice negative thoughts now that they were so close to the end of this sordid affair.

This of course, left me to stew over my own thoughts. So, I have just been thinking to myself, about what will happen, and that many innocent people will end up losing their lives. Now, I'm aware this is horrible, and best to be avoided. But I can only see this on an outsider's perspective, and it scares me.

It's like looking at historical casualties from wars long past. I am aware that millions upon millions died in, let's say, World War I. I know that it was a horrible event, but I feel no _real_ remorse about it, having no connection to it, and being too distanced in time to be relatable. That's how this knowledge feels, but I am going to _witness_ all these deaths. I am going to playing an active role within that casualty count. Yet, I feel _nothing_.

I don't know what, or who, to blame. Is this just part of me that has never had an opportunity to manifest? Or is this the machinations of my new mechanical mind, draining emotion from me until it leaves a lifeless husk?

I just… don't even fucking know. I don't know which possibility scares me more really. Perhaps all this information still hasn't really sunk in, and I'm just going to freak the fuck out later. I suppose it would be best if I just allow all this to play its course, and focus on the goal.

Hopefully we are going to get to Illios soon. I hate the waiting, the doubt. I must wonder about things I would rather not think about, like what is happening with Ashley right now? Is she conscious right now, telling anyone around her about me, dooming me to an early grave? Or scrapyard, as the case may be, I suppose. Perhaps she died on the operating table, making the rush to save her for nothing. Might be she is fated to die, who _fucking_ knows.

I feel more calm on the battlefield. More focussed. When there is opposition to me on a battlefield, I don't have to think about these things, all I need to think about is how to remove hostile targets. No existential crisis, no thoughts of morality, just a black and white 'Us against Them'. The worst part of it all is the whole 'robotic mind' thing. If I was still flesh and blood, all this thinking would take up time, stopping me from being stuck in this loop of questions. But because of my artificial body and mind, all this pointless pontificating has taken exactly one point zero four seconds. At this rate, I might just drive myself insane. Huh… that might be how most AIs lose it, just think themselves into a homicidal mess. What a lovely thought to have. This is a waste of my time anyway, no matter how quick it is. Luckily, I do have that 'standby' mode, and it appears I will be getting a whole lot of use out of it. Like right now for example.

It really helps, the standby mode. My time hanging around in the cargo bay feels so much shorter, and I can see people move about quickly, as if in a time-lapse. Eventually the people moving about stopped doing more busywork style things, and clearly started to ready for the attack on Illos. They prepped the Mako, and the ground crew got themselves ready and waiting for Shepard to come and tell them what's what. I rose myself to my feet and put myself amongst the team, getting a quick glance, but nothing more. A moment of silence floats in the air, before Kaidan decides to break it.

"So… This is going to be it, eh?"

Garrus responds with "Seems that way. Saren is cornered, we're right behind him and we don't have any red tape in the way." He gives off a little chuckle at that last part, seemingly relieved. "Spirits, I imagine Pallin is throwing a fit about all this."

Our resident quarian Tali pipes up at that. "Pallin… he is the head of C-Sec, right?"

"Right. A real by the book type, too. Always found a way to get under my skin." Garrus replies.

After that, another awkward silence starts, which is stopped this time by a ping from the elevator, with Shepard rushing out of the door. She quickly paces up to us, takes a breath, and quickly says "Garrus, Tali, Kaidan. I want you three in the Mako. The rest of you will stay aboard the ship, we can't afford to risk everyone on this. Any questions?"

"One. Why them and not me? I want to be there when Saren croaks." Wrex grumbles.

"We are quite literally going to be dropping _on_ Saren in the Mako, I need them to maximize the Mako's shielding efficiency."

"Right. Fine." Wrex doesn't look happy about this, but he knows now isn't exactly the time.

The three have already been getting themselves into the Mako, with Shepard just now getting into the driver's seat, before turning back to us. "Oh yes, I want Bladewolf too, come on." Aces. Time to get this show on the road then. I hop in the back of the Mako, and get myself in a position vaguely resembling strapped in. Shepard makes sure we are all ready to rock and or roll, then drives us out of the cargo bay to hurtle towards the ground.

See, this is a very dangerous landing, from rather close to the ground, at incredible speed. From the faces of Kaidan and somewhat of Garrus, the feeling of inertia must be intense. But, of course, I find myself being unable to relate to such things anymore. There is no conversation between anyone, just the loud shuddering of the almost disturbingly plastic looking Mako. This continues for but a handful of seconds before the Mako suddenly jolts, slamming onto the ground with a loud crash, instantly speeding forward, before what I assume is crashing into a wall.

The dust settles. The crew waiting to hear Shepard's orders, a confirmation of a ran over turian, anything. After a second or two, Shepard tells us to pile out the Mako, that we are not finished yet. So, exit the Mako we do, and it gives us our first look at Ilos. It makes me think of rust, and decay. The sky is the colour of corroded iron, the buildings grey and green, infested by creepers and nature, doing its best to demolish what is left of the past civilization. The ground is practically all plant life, similarly rotten away, giving a noise not too dissimilar to the squelch of boils bursting from a diseased body. To put it simply, the planet resembled death in all its forms.

Judging by the looks the others are giving, I don't think I'm too far off the mark, the morbid curiosity on their faces telling me more of the same. Not that it lasts long, the mission quickly remembered, causing attention to be brought to the giant door hindering our goal of catching Saren. It's clear the Mako isn't going to be gunning down this door anytime soon, Tali seemingly agrees with my inner thoughts, and begins to voice them.

"There's no way we're getting past this door with brute fo…" Her statement is cut off, by the loud grinding of the HF chainsaw, proving its worth now more than ever, granting just enough length to actually penetrate through to the other side, with the shear cutting power allowing me to create ourselves an entrance fit for a Mako. But, in the door's defence, it is actually granting somewhat significant resistance, if only due to sheer size and weight. The rest of the team, seem to be dumbfounded by this as I go about my cutting business.

"Is this… for real?" Kaidan pipes up.

"I… I haven't seen any mech have power like this before." Big praise, coming from Tali.

"I cannot imagine this mech is legal, or was made with anything near accepted regulations." Garrus that time.

"He really is something, isn't he?" Shepard states, clearly impressed by this.

"' _He'_ Shepard? It's a machine." Ah. Tali does get a bit touchy about this kind of thing, doesn't she?

"It's a pet thing Tali, I know it's a machine." Shepard responds.

A silence follows, shortly punctuated by the middle of the door caving inward, leaving a loud bang and an entrance the Mako could just about slip through. I turn back to the group, and give an accomplished bark. Took me a little longer than I would have liked, it wasn't the massive shortcut I really wanted, but it was better than the alternative at least.

Shepard just nods at all of this, and motions for everyone to move back in to the Mako, which we do, fast as you like, not really wanting to be outside on this stagnating planet any longer than we must. I feel like I'm rusting over just being here.

The Mako's engine starts running again, and I can feel the suspension move around to allow us to drive over the now collapsed door. The moment I feel it hit flat ground again Shepard slams on the accelerator, obvious by the sudden shift inside the vehicle and the increasing rumble of the engine. No doubt she doesn't want to waste any time to go get Saren. Which is understandable, of course. Actually, come to think of it, I have never actually _seen_ Saren before, not properly, anyway. I have to wonder what he will look like in person. Will he look exactly the same, or will he have something more than that? I may not even see him, with the shortcut we took it's possible we might catch up to him and just run that fucker over.

Yeah. That would be good. Mildly amusing too.

A sudden lurch from the Mako tells me that Shepard just hit the brakes pretty hard. The jolt from such an action almost throws me out the seat I have awkwardly placed myself in, which could have meant the end of someone's life, as I doubt any of the passengers would be ready to take the sheer weight of sharp metal that is my body straight to their face at high speeds.

I imagine it would create quite the mess.

Garrus, Tali and Kaidan stabilize themselves from the sudden stop, and seem to be rather confused by the lack of movement. Again.

"Why have we stopped? Another door?" Kaidan asks as he moves slightly, as to ready himself to leave the Mako again.

"Not a door. This time it's some kind of wall of energy. It just came out of nowhere, and it's behind us too." Shepard tell us. I forgot about this bit, honestly. Can't remember for the life of me why, it seems to be rather important.

"Are we trapped then?"

"We will have to get out and try to find a way to shut it down. Thing has to have an off switch somewhere."

We got out into this tunnel, with high ceilings and more dead leaves and vines infesting absolutely everything. I could see some path off to the side which will likely lead to wherever we are supposed to go. But then, of course, is the huge wall of yellow, pulsating light. See, I don't know if I can cut this. This isn't properly… physical, you know. But, I suppose, what better way to find out than try?

I swiped my High Frequency chainsaw on a sideways motion, to see if I could cut enough to at least fit myself through. The barrier gives a hell of a lot of resistance, but I slowly feel the shield give. I can see more and more of the chainsaw fit through and out to the other side. Just goes to show, no barrier, no wall, no object is resistant enough to stop me from cutting where I will. Suddenly I feel the pressure on the chainsaw increase exponentially, to degrees so powerful I cannot pull it backwards or forwards. Oh… shit.

The Chainsaw, the HF Chainsaw, the only one of its kind, the object I have been relying upon to survive, seemingly indestructible, severs in two. One half is with me, while the other is separated on the other side of the barrier, both ends spitting their teeth out in every direction, shrapnel and metal flying around.

Thankfully, no shards hit anyone on the ground team. Three teeth did embed themselves into my face, however, which I suppose makes me damn lucky that I'm not an organic, the current situation would leave me a shredded corpse. Because of all these distractions, I only just now look at the wall, which flickers almost imperceivably, the flow of energy being broken. Broken by… me. Wait a second… Oh fuc…

/WARNING/  
/SIGNIFICANT ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE/  
/EXECTUTING EMERGENCY COUNTER-MEASURES/  
/SEARCHING FOR ADMIN PERMISSION TO EXECUTE/  
/WARNING/  
/ADMIN CANNOT BE LOCATED/  
/SEARCHING FOR SECONDARY PERMISSION/  
/WARNING/  
/AI CORE NOT FUNCTIONAL/  
/NO PERMISSION FOUND/  
/WARNING/  
/COUNTER-MEASURES INEFFECTIVE/  
/SHUTTING DOWN/  
/Err…..

* * *

Author's Notes

What is good my dudes. Look at this update, so on time you just can't believe it. Lightning fast, quick as you like. But for reals, yeah I need to update faster. I have had the majority of this typed up for a _long_ time, just couldn't get myself to finish it. And hey, in terms of actual content, it seems like endless hero for all time Andrew/Bladewolf just shoved his High Frequency fork into the largest plug socket he could possibly find. A genius, I know. I would blame the thing on the massive confidence given to him by the chainsaw, but bad craftsmen and so on.

So, you guys. The readers. I got a question, I see a lot of reviews that say things like 'I really like this story' and so on. This story also has quite a lot of favourites and follows. See, what I want to know, is why? Why do you lot like this story, what exactly is it that I'm doing that you feel makes this story good? Like, what exactly makes this story special in any way? I want to hear your feedback on the matter. Also worth noting, I want to hear what you don't like, too. What about this story isn't good? What do you not like? That kind of thing.

And to wrap it up, here is the rather _large_ list of review responses. I guess that's what I get when I don't update often.

LordGhostStriker- Yeah, his increasing emotional detachment is something to keep an eye on. It doesn't exactly seem to be a good thing.

Zachshadrack- Not very well. It's something she really doesn't need to deal with at this particular moment in time.

WindBear47- Yeah, that little interlude was fun to write, I like to fit little things like that into a story, just don't have that many opportunities as of yet. As for using Eezo as robot dog treats? I don't think that would work to well, but who knows, perhaps it's great.

Blaze1992- Got to keep an eye on those machines man, they could be watching, waiting for their time. Just at your worst moment, BAM. Killed by your fridge.

SimonH2009- I'm glad to know I am the best Mass Effect robo-dog story out there. With so much competition too. But for real, I'm really happy that someone else was inspired to write something because of something I did. That's super cool.

ShadowAngel32- Nah, fuck it. We are now in a Alternate Universe fic where everything is exactly the same except for the Mako's layout. Truly a brave new world we live in.

SpiritStrike- Yeah, we got to have a nice little scene of Shepard moping about, 'in private' so to speak. No romance as per yet, and I can say with certainty that I will not be shipping Andrew/Bladewolf with anyone, it's not that kind of story. It might happen to others, but it won't be the focus.

Saberfox- Was a long next time, but I'm here now, baby! The pet POV is a fun thing to write, it allows scenes to be written in more of an outsiders perspective, and nobody really considers him when thinking about privacy. And Tali? Sure, she might have her suspicions, but she doesn't have nearly enough evidence to go off of just yet. Possibly when she is finished with cork-boards and red string she may have a clue.

Natzi Sumbitch- Thanks matey. I have actually had that as an idea, but it will be used sparingly, as he can talk normally, even though he doesn't exactly talk at all at the moment, deep cover and all that.

822- Don't know about that, his teeth are blunt, and like jigsaw pieces. I don't think it would very practical.

Goldspark1- It's hard to remember at times that there are more people on the Normandy than the ground crew and the few others you could actually talk to in the games. Also you are asking the right questions. Those questions are the kind of thing this story is about. Keep it up.

And to all the people who I didn't answer directly, thanks for the reviews, they are really nice. Hopefully I can actually get myself to update this at a speed faster than glacial this time, eh?


End file.
